The Stars Aligned
by SarahLia
Summary: Kaos desperately needs a new idea for a manga storyboard and finally, one hits her. Her new manga achieves what she's long sought, but she finds that with success comes even more pressure and stress. As she copes with the new situations that arise, she comes to further treasure the support of her friends and also finds herself growing closer to Ruki.
1. Chapter 1

"I just can't do it!"

That phrase had practically become a mantra to Kaos as she struggled to work on her new storyboard. She desperately needed to come up with an idea: something funny, something amazing, and something to follow up on her successful guest manga.

What she had instead was a big pile of nothing.

She had lost track of how much time she had spent in this position over the past week: sitting on her bed in her dorm room and staring blankly at her tablet. No matter what she tried, the results were the same. Hazy ideas half-formed in her mind, but she just couldn't put them down.

She leaned back against the wall and sighed. It had been hard enough to create something publishable the first time. Doing that again was proving to be even harder, and she was back to where she started. Was she trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice?

Kaos looked over at her roommate, Koyume, who was busily scribbling away at her desk and humming to herself quietly. Koyume must have been deeply engrossed in her work; she hadn't noticed Kaos's outburst at all. Or maybe she was so used to them that she had begun to ignore them.

"I just can't do it," Kaos mouthed silently to her empty tablet screen. She felt herself tear up. Some manga artist she was. Resisting the urge to simply throw her tablet across the room, she set it down next to her and lowered her head.

She was already behind her friends who had serializations. New first-year manga artists would be moving into the dorm soon. Would she find herself behind them as well?

"Nobody's going to look up to someone who can't even get serialized," she said, slumping her shoulders.

"I'm sorry Kaos, did you say something?"

Kaos looked back up. Koyume had turned around and was regarding her with a friendly look.

"Ah, it's nothing, Koyume," Kaos said, wiping at her eyes and putting on a smile.

"What's wrong? Is your storyboard not going well?"

"It's…" Kaos began. She couldn't lie to Koyume. "It's not going anywhere at all."

Koyume got up and plopped down on the bed next to her. "Can I see what you've done so far? Maybe I can offer some advice."

"Sure." Kaos picked her tablet back up and showed it to her.

"This is blank," Koyume said, tilting her head.

"Exactly."

"Hmmm. Maybe you could just sketch some characters. Or some backgrounds. It's always good to practice those."

Kaos shook her head and set her tablet back down. She had tried a little sketching in hopes of getting things kick-started, but that hadn't worked either.

"I see," Koyume said. She got up and ran quickly to her desk and back. Thrusting a chocolate donut at Kaos, she said "Here, have a donut. Have two. Something sweet will cheer you up and get your mind moving again!"

The Koyume method might have been fine for her, but it didn't really work for Kaos. She nonetheless accepted Koyume's offering and nibbled aimlessly on the donut. Sitting next to her, Koyume wolfed the one she was eating and sighed happily. Nothing ever got Koyume down. Kaos wished she could be more like her.

"Feel better?" Koyume asked, smiling brightly at her. She had a speck of chocolate near her mouth, which made her look even more endearing and cute.

"A little," Kaos said, though her lifted mood was more due to talking to Koyume and a pause from agonizing over her lack of productivity. "But I still don't have anything to turn in."

"You created a great guest manga before," Koyume said. "That didn't just happen by accident. I'm sure you'll do it again."

"I hope so too. But things just aren't…"

"Say, why don't we go out?" Koyume suggested.

"I-I don't know," Kaos said in a shaky voice. "It's getting pretty late, and it's already dark…" For the most part, Kaos had never liked going out in the dark. Even with her friends, she'd still be nervous.

"Don't worry about that, Kaos! I'll protect you from anyone that might try to steal you away."

"Nobody would try to steal me away," she muttered.

"Sure they would!" Koyume said. She threw her arms around Kaos and squeezed her tightly. "Because you're so tiny and easy to snatch up!"

Caught between annoyance at her small size being brought up yet again and the pleasure of Koyume hugging her, Kaos smiled weakly and patted Koyume's hand. "Thank you. But I should really try and get something done."

"You've been at it all day though," Koyume said. "Come on, you need a break. It'll clear your head and help you work better."

"Eh…" Koyume was full of suggestions on how to work. Unfortunately, they were suggestions that worked for her, not Kaos.

"We can invite Ruki and Tsubasa to go with us," Koyume said, her eyes twinkling as she mentioned Tsubasa's name. "We only have so much time before the term starts. What better way to spend it than all four of us being together?"

The four of them were usually together, Kaos mused, regardless of whether school was in session or not. Still, maybe going out would be better than moping in her dorm room.

"Okay. Let's go, Koyume," Kaos said. Sure, she let herself be easily talked into things, but she had a hard time saying no to her friends. And maybe a distraction was just what she needed.

"Hooray!" Koyume leaped up and practically skipped out of their room, presumably to go invite Ruki and Tsubasa.

Kaos sighed again and picked up her tablet. She opened the file for her previous manga and skimmed through her one good work. She had thought to build on that, but couldn't think of a good way to do so. Maybe if she read back through it later (as well as the glowing reviews she'd gotten), she'd be inspired once again. Maybe then a story would come.

 _I still want to do a slice-of-life story about high school girls. Do I need to live more of my high school life before I can come up with something good again?_

That didn't make any sense. Ruki, Tsubasa, and Koyume had no trouble constantly coming up with new ideas. Plus, only Koyume's was anything like her real life, and she seemed to have all the inspiration she'd ever need in Tsubasa.

As if summoned by Kaos's thought, Koyume poked her head back in the room. "C'mon, Kaos! Tsubasa and Ruki are waiting! You don't want to get left behind!"

 _I've already been left behind_ , Kaos wanted to say, but there was no reason to snap at Koyume. She grabbed her red cap as she headed out the door.

She admired the new dorm a little as she made her way through the hallway. Though it still seemed to shine, the new dorm didn't yet quite have the hominess of the old one. Kaos figured that she'd feel differently as she spent more time in it. It was definitely more spacious. Most importantly, it was someplace where she could keep drawing manga and creating new memories with her friends.

When Kaos met them in the hallway, she found Ruki wearing a warm smile and Tsubasa looking as stoic as ever.

"Hi, Kaos!" Ruki greeted her. "Koyume said you needed a walk to clear your head."

"Ah…yes," Kaos said, smiling at Ruki. The problem was that her head was too empty, but it probably wouldn't hurt to empty out the mess that accumulated in it due to her frustration.

"You should come and train with me," Tsubasa said. "That will really help clear your head."

"I'm not sure that would work for me," Kaos said, smiling at her. Tsubasa's workouts were intense. None of the girls could keep up with her.

"Well, let's not stand around here chatting," Koyume said. "We should go for our walk before it's time for bed."

The four of them set off. They had just reached the stairway when an amused voice behind them asked: "Hello, girls. Going somewhere on this dark, foreboding evening?"

They turned around. Suzu Fuura stood in the middle of the hall holding a sketchbook in one hand and a pen in the other. She must have snuck up without any of them noticing. Fuura raised her pen at them in a threatening manner, and Kaos saw that her hand was stained red. Was that blood? There were more red splotches on her dress and even a few on her face. She grinned evilly at them.

All four girls screamed and took off running down the stairs with Fuura laughing manically as they fled. They ran away from her as fast as they could until they spilled out of the dormitory front door and into the clear, cool night. Pausing to catch her breath, it occurred to Kaos that the red splotches all over Fuura had probably been ink, not blood. Unlike Kaos, Fuura had clearly been making progress with her manga.

"We really…need to ask her to stop doing that," Ruki said, gasping for breath. "It's…annoying…among other things…"

"You can't say she isn't passionate about her work," Tsubasa said. Their frantic dash away from Fuura hadn't tired her at all.

Ruki frowned. "Maybe, but there other are ways for her to express it without frightening the rest of us."

"But it shows her true love of her medium," Tsubasa said. "Spooky as she might be, I can't help but admire that a little. And she says that screams inspire her and help her draw her horror manga."

"Sometimes I wonder if that's true or if she just enjoys scaring people," Ruki said.

Kaos thought both Ruki and Tsubasa had good points. Fuura was scary, but she was also good at what she did, and she basically lived for horror. With regards to getting into the spirit of what they drew, she and Tsubasa were actually sort of alike.

Of course, in addition to being experienced, talented, and passionate (in her own way), Fuura was also really pretty. Putting aside the horror manga and the scares and the screams, her beauty was what Kaos thought was one of the most interesting things about her. Kaos pictured Fuura in her mind, her bangs pushed aside and a warm smile on her face.

 _Her hair is actually really nice. And, oh, those eyes! Why does she hide them all the time? They're so gorgeous and expressive! Plus, she does feel cold, but it's a soothing sort of cold, and when she's pressed up against you can feel how soft she is, kind of like Koyume. Oh, and like Koyume she also has those big-_

"Kaos? What's so funny?"

Ruki's voice pulled Kaos out of her fantasy.

"Eh, funny?" Kaos asked.

"You have a giddy look on your face," Ruki said. "And you were practically giggling just now."

"Oh, um, it's nothing!" Kaos said, waving her hands in front of her. She must have gotten carried away with her fantasies again. That was a little embarrassing, but thankfully, her friends had never seemed to catch on. "I was just…thinking about…uh…Fuura." She immediately regretted saying that. It probably sounded a little absurd.

"I see," Ruki said, raising an eyebrow.

"Forget about Fuura. Let's just go and enjoy our walk," Tsubasa said.

"Right," Kaos said. It was dark, but she figured there couldn't be anything as scary as Fuura outside. Probably, anyway.

It turned out to be a good night for a walk. It was cool, but not cold. The sky was clear, and Kaos could see a splash of stars across it. The background noise of the city was present, but it was soft and quiet. All in all, it was a peaceful spring evening. The calm atmosphere, combined with the presence of her friends, was enough to ease Kaos's nerves some.

"Where are we going, anyway?" Ruki asked.

"Let's head for the park!" Koyume said.

Koyume's suggestion was a good one. They headed off in that direction. As they strolled down an empty street, Koyume chatted away with Tsubasa, and Kaos found herself walking next to Ruki and chatting with her.

"Kaos," Ruki said. "About what Koyume said back at the dorm…is something wrong?"

"I-I've been working on a new storyboard," Kaos said. Maybe it would help her to be completely open with her friends. They had stood by her through thick and thin over the past year, after all. And she had admired Ruki right from the very start. "And I've been having a lot of trouble. I can't come with anything good or even anything at all, it feels like."

"That happens to the best of us, sometimes," Ruki said. "Don't worry. I'm sure it will pass."

Kaos sighed. "I just can't-"

"Wrong!" Tsubasa said sharply, cutting her off. She must have picked up on their conversation. Her voice was full of authority, the same tone she used when pretending to be one of her characters. "That is the incorrect attitude, Kaos! A true hero strives on through trials and tribulations and realizes that even failures are opportunities to grow. In fact, how can you grow unless you fail sometimes?"

Tsubasa's intense speech was too much for her. Flushed, she immediately stopped and bowed deeply several times. "Ah, you're right, of course, Tsubasa! Please forgive me! I will try to make the most of my failures, numerous as they are!"

"That's Tsubasa for you!" Koyume said, beaming.

"Now, then," Tsubasa said, her voice calm once again. "Creativity can be fleeting and fickle. Sometimes, the harder you try to grasp it, the more difficult it is to do so."

"Tsubasa's right," Ruki said. "Sometimes…sometimes you just have to sit down and force yourself to draw _something_. And then another thing. Once you manage to get into the flow of working, it'll be hard to stop, but you first have to get yourself into it."

"I think I can do that," Kaos said. "But, you know, my goal of getting a serialized manga…well…"

"It's not a bad thing to have goals," Tsubasa said. "But if you focus solely on them, then you'll make the road to them harder for yourself than it needs to be."

Tsubasa went on and on as their walk continued. Kaos nodded along at her words. She was right, of course. But at the same, Kaos wasn't sure if the Tsubasa method would work for her any better than the Koyume method did.

When they reached the park, Kaos, Koyume, and Ruki had wanted to sit down, but Tsubasa insisted they keep walking, proclaiming it to be good for them and that, furthermore, they actually should have been powerwalking. Ruki pointed out, however, that they had come out to relax, and they continued on at a leisurely pace.

Still, Kaos wondered if something more intense would be better to take her mind off of her troubles. Her mind started to wander some. As it did, her pessimism bubbled up again, and worries ran rampant through her head. Just what would happen if she never came up with something? Her thoughts must have shown all over her face because her friends spoke up again.

"Don't worry, Kaos," Ruki said. "We all know what you're capable of. You'll find that spark again. I'm sure you will."

"Keep at it," Tsubasa added. "Just as you have been."

"And we'll be right here with you!" Koyume finished.

Kaos's first instinct was to deny her friends' confidence in her and apologize for troubling them. She stopped herself though. They didn't need to hear that anymore, and, more importantly, she needed to stop thinking like that, as difficult as it was. Even if she didn't have a serialized series, she was still a published manga author. She was just having a bit of a dry spell. That was all.

 _A dry spell, sure. Or rather, a long streak of them. I…wait, no! I can't keep thinking like this, I'll just bring myself back down._

Koyume spoke up, breaking into her thoughts.

"Look!" Koyume exclaimed, pointing up to the sky.

Kaos looked up. Streaking brightly across the night sky was a shooting star, a long trail behind it. Kaos found herself briefly enthralled by how beautiful it was. For a moment, she forgot all her troubles. She didn't have to worry about creating a storyboard or falling behind everyone. She could just enjoy this wondrous sight with her friends. Taking her gaze off it briefly, she looked over at them, and affection swelled up inside her.

"It's so pretty," Koyume sighed. Kaos nodded in agreement.

"A shooting star can herald the start of a new trial for the hero," Tsubasa said. "It's a sign of things to come!"

"That's only in your manga, Tsu-chan," Ruki said, chuckling. "In real life, you're supposed to just make a wish on it."

"I know what I'm wishing for!" Koyume declared, a bright smile crossing her face.

As they kept walking, Kaos looked up at the shooting star again, a brilliant bright streak set among the other shining stars. She knew what she would wish for too.

 _Please,_ she wished, _help me create a new manga that's creative and funny, one that many people can read and enjoy and-_

Kaos had been so absorbed in looking up and making her wish that she had missed a step and lost her balance. Her feet twisted around each other, and, unable to stop herself, she went tumbling to the ground. She cried out loudly, but that was cut off when her head hit the ground with a dull thud and she was knocked out cold.


	2. Chapter 2

"Is she alright?"

"I'm not sure. Looks like she hit her head kind of hard."

Kaos was dimly aware of voices talking right above her. Who were they? Where was she?

"Let's call for an ambulance."

"If she doesn't wake up, that's probably what we should-oh, look, she's waking up."

Feeling groggy, Kaos slowly opened her eyes. She could have sworn she saw stars. Or was just that the night sky? She couldn't be sure. As she came to her senses, she realized she was lying on the ground. Three concerned faces looked down on her.

"Kaos!" Ruki said. "Are you okay? We were worried."

"Ruki," Kaos replied weakly. A small tear fell from her eye. "I think I fell. Please forgive me for worrying you."

She started to get up, put someone gently pushed her down. It was Tsubasa. "No, don't move yet. Looks like you took a hard spill there."

"Her hat cushioned the blow some though," Koyume said. "So hopefully, she isn't hurt too badly. Kaos, how many fingers am I holding up?" She held up her first three fingers in front of Kaos's face. Kaos gave her the correct answer, and she nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Does she have any bad scrapes or bruises?" Ruki asked, looking her over.

"None that I can see," Tsubasa answered, looking her over.

"What if she has a concussion? Or a broken arm or leg?"

"I'm fine, really," Kaos insisted. Her head throbbed some, but that was really all. Her vision wasn't blurry, and she could feel and move everything. Really, she was pretty sure she had just bumped her head. She didn't need everyone worrying over her like this. "Let me just-"

"You don't have to do anything," Ruki said, taking Kaos's hand with both of her own. "We'll wait here with you until you're better and ready to get up."

What had Kaos done to deserve such caring friends? She looked into Ruki's eyes, so full of concern. Any other time Kaos might have started to just feel sorry for herself again, but those skilled, artistic hands holding her own was enough to make her feel better.

 _Her fingers are so long and slender and beautiful. Am…am I even worthy to be touching these hands?_

"Eheheh," she said, a silly grin falling over her face. Ruki tilted her head a little.

"I think she's going to be alright," Tsubasa said flatly. She helped Kaos to her feet, and Kaos reluctantly let go of Ruki's hands.

"Please forgive me for being a bother to everyone," Kaos said, deeply bowing her head to her friends.

"There's no need to apologize," Ruki said. "Accidents happen all the time."

"We're just glad you're not badly hurt!" Koyume said, smiling and patting her arm.

"And besides," Tsubasa said. "Every hero suffers injuries and setbacks sometimes. An invincible hero would make for a boring story."

Kaos, of course, was no invincible hero (or any kind of hero, really), so she checked herself over. Her head was a little sore, and she was sure she'd have a bruise on it, but that was all, really. Despite being briefly knocked out, this accident had been relatively minor. Brushing the dirt off herself, she remarked: "Maybe I should wear a protective helmet whenever I go out, just in case I fall again."

"No, that would look dorky," Koyume said, chuckling. "Just try to be more careful. After all, we'd never want anything bad to happen to you!"

"Maybe you should be carried, Kaos," Tsubasa suggested. "I could do that. You're light, but it would still be a good addition to my workout." She flexed her arms a bit. "Upper body strength is important to my characters, after all. I have to maintain it to keep up my connection with them."

Koyume's eyes widened. She looked aside and quietly said, "Maybe if I acted a little clumsier, Tsubasa would carry me around."

"Hmmm? What was that, Koyume?" Tsubasa asked.

"Oh, just that…well…uh…perhaps Ruki would be more suited to carrying Kaos," Koyume said. She pointed at Ruki and smiled brightly at her. "Right?"

"Me?!" Ruki said, looking flustered.

"That's not a bad idea," Tsubasa said. "Ruki seems to enjoy clinging on to her as it is."

"That's…I…well," Ruki stammered. Her face had turned slightly red. "That's not necessary!"

"I wouldn't mind Ruki carrying me," Kaos said, smiling up at her. She imagined Ruki carrying her like a bride. It didn't quite fit Ruki's image, perhaps, but she liked it anyway. "It might be fun…"

"No!" Ruki snapped. She sounded annoyed now. "This whole conversation has gotten ridiculous. Did all three of you get head injuries?"

Kaos, Tsubasa, and Koyume each looked away in another direction, avoiding Ruki's irritated gaze. The four girls walked on through the park. Kaos noticed Ruki shooting her a worried glance every now and then and was grateful that Ruki cared so much, but insisted that she was, indeed fine.

 _Although holding her hand longer would have been nice. Maybe I should have wished for that instead._

It was then that Kaos remembered that she never actually completed the wish she tried to make. She looked back up in the sky again, but couldn't find the shooting star from earlier. She had missed her chance. Well, maybe a half-wish was better than no wish at all. It wasn't as though it would actually have an effect on her manga anyway.

 _I'll just have to keep working hard. Even if it's failure after failure…if I keep at it, maybe I'll manage to create something publishable again and even get serialized. Or what if…what if I never manage to get serialized? I keep failing, never able to repeat the success of my guest manga, and then I have to move out of the dorms and never see Ruki or Koyume or Tsubasa again, and-_

"Kaos," Ruki said, cutting into her thoughts. "Whatever you're thinking about, you probably ought to stop."

Kaos looked over at her. "Eh?"

"You look disheartened and like you're about to start crying again," Ruki said. "So, whatever it is, don't stress too much. Alright?"

Kaos forced a smile back to her face and nodded. Ruki had probably guessed at what she was thinking about. And she was right, of course. When Kaos thought about it, Ruki had far more to stress about than she did anyway. Ruki had her own serialized series with constant hard deadlines. Plus, she had to constantly think up lewd things to draw. Kaos imagined that wasn't easy. She could never see herself doing anything like that.

"Alright," Kaos said. "I'll stop worrying and just get back to work tomorrow."

"Good for you, Kaos," Ruki said, returning her smile.

"And I'll try to be more like you!" she added, looking intensely at Ruki.

"You only need to be like you, Kaos," Ruki said. "That's enough." Kaos wasn't entirely sure if that was true, but a compliment from Ruki made her feel warm all the same.

The rest of their walk was uneventful. They made small talk, mostly about their usual topic, manga. Despite falling down, hitting her head and embarrassing herself, Kaos felt some of the stress of the day drain away from her. She hadn't realized how much it had been weighing her down until it was finally gone. She was sure that had been Koyume's intention all along.

By the time they returned to the dorm, the throbbing in Kaos's head had subsided completely. She looked in the mirror and confirmed that she did indeed have a small bruise, but that was all. And it was only barely visible, mostly hidden by her pink hair anyway.

When she was in bed, Kaos thought a little about the day. She felt a little calmer, but the mess of worry and stress and frustration was all there, like an ocean that looked serene but had a strong undercurrent swirling down below. Kaos took a deep breath. Despite all that, spending time with her friends had helped put her at least a little at ease.

"Thank you for helping me today, Koyume," Kaos said. "You and Ruki and Tsubasa too." But Koyume didn't answer. Kaos looked over across the room and even in the dimness could tell that Koyume was already fast asleep. She sighed deeply and lied back. She'd thank Koyume tomorrow.

It was a long time before Kaos fell asleep. When she did, she had a strange, terrible dream. She found herself all alone in the dormitory before discovering that she was the only 'real' person there. She ran around looking for the other girls, but she saw that they were suddenly just figures on her shelf. Even the housemother of the dorm, her editor, and her teacher were figures. She picked them up and tried to talk to them, but none of them replied. Despondent, she set the figures carefully back on the shelf and cried.

Kaos shot up in her bed with a start. It was barely light out. She looked over at Koyume, who was quite real, sprawled out in her own bed and snoozing peacefully.

 _It was just a dream. My overactive imagination can't up with a good storyboard idea, but instead conjures up something that's even scarier than Fuura. What a mess._

She clearly had too many things rolling around in her head. Kaos decided to take a break from drawing that morning. She went to the house mother's room and played with Nyaos, who seemed to have taken to the new dorm swimmingly. As Kaos trailed a piece of string for the little white cat to chase around, she wondered if she could call all that she was doing the Kaos method.

"You look like you're having fun."

Kaos looked up and saw Ririka, the housemother of the dorm, standing over her and smiling.

"I-I'm just taking a break," Kaos said, suddenly feeling guilty for not working on her storyboard.

"It's good to do that sometimes," Ririka said.

"I know I should be working," Kaos said nervously. Nyaos, seemingly confused that Kaos had abruptly stopped playing, pawed at her. "I'll get back to it in a bit, I promise…"

"If you overwork yourself to the point of exhaustion, your work will be hindered," Ririka said wisely. "There's a point of diminishing returns."

That, of course, had been part of why Koyume had suggested their walk the previous evening. Kaos decided to keep relaxing a bit longer. Playing with Nyaos was soothing. Of course, playing with and petting cats had always been soothing to her. She had always felt a rapport with them for some reason.

Kaos's break ended up extending over that entire day. Her tablet was left untouched on her desk, and she simply idled around the dorm. Just after lunch, there was a knock on their door. Koyume smiled widely when she saw their visitor was Tsubasa.

"Hey, you two," Tsubasa said. "Ruki's at a meeting with her editor. Want to play some games?"

"W-Won't Ruki get mad at us?" Kaos asked though the prospect of being lectured by Ruki was kind of nice.

Tsubasa shrugged. "It'll be fine. We don't need to tell her."

"Well, okay." Kaos turned to Koyume. "Want to play too?"

"I'm not much for video games," Koyume said. "But I'll definitely come and watch."

So, the trio relocated to Ruki and Tsubasa's room. By 'watch,' Kaos had assumed Koyume had meant that she'd watch Tsubasa. Kaos hadn't been wrong in the assumption. As Tsubasa and Kaos played round after round of a fighting game, Koyume barely even looked at the screen, instead of smiling and clapping a little when Tsubasa won, which was pretty much every time. Kaos didn't mind though. Doing this was far more about spending time with her friends than simply playing games for the sake of playing and winning.

"You almost had me that round," Tsubasa remarked as they finished yet another fight. "You're getting better."

"I still haven't won a single victory though," Kaos said. Victories against Tsubasa in gaming came as seldom as Kaos having good manga storyboards, it seemed like.

"Well, let's keep at it and see what else you've got," Tsubasa said. "Next round. Let's-"

"Video games again, huh? You two never change. And now you've dragged Koyume into it."

They turned around. Ruki was standing in the doorway looking at them in a mixture of annoyance and amusement.

"Oh, I'm just watching!" Koyume said, apparently not wanting to be grouped with her co-conspirators.

"Hello, Ruki," Tsubasa said. "How'd your meeting with your editor go?"

"Don't try and change the subject, Tsu-chan," Ruki replied. She turned her gaze to Kaos. "And you. I thought you were going to work on a new storyboard today!"

"Ah, please forgive me, Ruki!" Kaos said, dropping the game controller and tearing up. "I-I'm just taking a small break." At the same time, she felt a little rush, having Ruki look sternly down on her.

Ruki's face turned sympathetic. "Oh…of course. I'm sorry, Kaos. We all need breaks now and then."

Kaos was a little disappointed that Ruki had such a quick change of heart. She would have enjoyed a slight scolding from her. Well, she figured, perhaps another time. Still, Ruki's presence was enough to lift anyone's spirits.

"Ruki, why don't you join us?" Kaos invited her.

"Me?" Ruki looked uncertain. "I don't know how to play video games."

"You could just watch, like Koyume."

"Well, okay," Ruki said uncertainly. "But only for a little while. I think all of four of us have other things we ought to be doing."

Ruki squeezed up against Kaos as the four girls crowded around the screen where Kaos and Tsubasa were playing. They continued round after round of the fighting game. Koyume continued to watch Tsubasa, while Ruki split her attention between the screen and wondering how Kaos and Tsubasa could manage the game controllers as they did. When a large "Game Over" banner flashed across the screen, she looked a little perplexed.

"Game over?" Ruki asked, putting a hand to her chin. "Does that mean you can't play it anymore?"

Just like always, Ruki wasn't so familiar with technology. As though picking up on this thought, Tsubasa smiled slightly at Kaos. Kaos smiled back and turned to Ruki. "It just means this particular game is over, Ruki. The game itself is fine."

"I see…"

Kaos briefly wondered if she was thinking of something lewd related to games to work into her next manga. Coming up with that, of course, was Ruki's specialty. Or maybe she just taking in Kaos's knowledge of technology. Kaos hoped it was that – she did enjoy feeling like a teacher now and then. It was a reversal from the way things usually worked.

Just like Kaos's break from drawing manga, the 'little while' extended much longer than originally intended. In this case, it ate up the rest of the day.

When it was time for bed, Kaos felt a slight twinge of guilt about the fact that not only had she completely avoided working on her manga that day, she had also avoided even thinking about it. Not for spending time with her friends – that was never wasted time – but because if she didn't have anything to turn in, her editor would be even more disappointed with her the next time they met. She tried to push that thought from her mind; she had disappointed Amisawa enough as it was.

 _Tomorrow,_ she told herself after Koyume had turned out the lights. _I'll work tomorrow. I promise._

As Kaos lied back in her bed, she realized a small idea for a manga series had been stirring around in the back of her mind for the entire day. She just hadn't paid it any heed. It was tiny, like a dim star that was far, far away and could barely be seen. It wasn't anything worth springing out of bed to write down so that she didn't forget it. Not yet, anyway. She closed her eyes and ruminated on what she wanted to do.

 _A simple setting would be nice. Just an all-girl high school, nothing more. Sure, that's common, but there's still lots you can do with it. There can be endearing cuteness, jokes, meaningful storylines…_

Kaos drifted off, thinking of the idea that was indistinct, but still present and coming into sharper focus. Her sleep that night was peaceful and dreamless.

The next morning, Kaos woke with her new idea fully formed in her mind.

 _Hoshi Girls Academy. That's where it will take place._

She could suddenly see it all in her head. She got up, grabbed her tablet, and sat back down on her bed, not even bothering to change out of her pajamas or braid her hair into its usual style. It was very early, but it was time for her to get to work.

She began drawing the school. It would be a rough, simple sketch. She simply wanted a place to work with. The school building took shape first and then the grounds around it. Perfect. It wasn't anything too out of the ordinary, but it would work. Her characters wouldn't spend all their time in school though. They needed houses and apartments and places they'd go and visit. She dashed off a few.

Those wouldn't drive the story though. To really get things moving, she needed characters. They were the most important part, after all. In drawing the school, Kaos's characters had come into sharper focus in her mind.

She began sketching out the characters she wanted to include. She started with them wearing their school uniforms. They'd need those, and they'd have to look cute. Of course, the series would also show them outside of school sometimes. She thought of Ruki and Koyume, who dressed so fashionably. One character appeared on her tablet, then another and another. She drew sketches of them in street clothes. She made notes next to each one, adding in names and some basic traits. She'd write in more details later.

Kaos looked at the characters and decided a few of them looked too similar to each other. She thought of Tsubasa's advice for not making all her characters look alike and began to redesign those who needed it. She gave them different hairstyles, different heights, and different faces. One, of course, needed to look a bit like Ruki – mature, older, and sophisticated. She smiled to herself as she thought of Ruki's appearance. Girls with that sort of appearance always made her happy, and that went double for Ruki.

 _Wait, I can't get too distracted and think about her now! There will be time for that later. Focus, Kaos, focus! It's like Ruki said – if you want to draw, then you have to draw. And once you start, you have to stay with it, just like Tsubasa does._

"Kaos?"

Kaos looked up from her tablet. Koyume was standing over her and smiling at her. Kaos has been so immersed in her own work that she hadn't even noticed Koyume getting up and changing. The sun shined brightly through the window, and the room was much wasn't nearly as dark as it had been when she got up.

"Good morning, Koyume," Kaos said. She stretched her arms and smiled up at her. She still had so much to do, but the feeling of what she had already accomplished was a fantastic contrast to how she had been doing before.

"Morning?" Koyume asked, chuckling. "It's lunchtime, Kaos. You missed breakfast. Are you going to eat something? Or put on some other clothes beside your pajamas?"

Kaos was a little surprised. Had she been working the entire morning? Time had simply flown. She looked down at her pink pajamas then back up at Koyume sheepishly.

"Well…" she began.

"Say no more," Koyume said. "It looks like you've broken out of your creative block. Why don't I bring your lunch up to you?"

"That would be great, Koyume," Kaos said. "Thank you." She threw herself back into her work. When Koyume brought a plate of lunch to their room, she still didn't pause. She briefly moved from her bed to the table in the middle of their room and kept drawing as she nibbled at her meal.

She spent her afternoon the same way. She first drew up intro panels for her characters. Readers needed to get to know them after all. She continued to make side notes on their histories and quirks. They needed to be charming, relatable, and likable. Kaos thought of the ways Ruki, Koyume, and Tsubasa were each of those in their own unique way.

Kaos barely noticed the room darkening as she drew and wrote and drew some more. She was far more concerned with Hoshi Girls Academy and the girls attending there. Everything else was blocked out.

As Tsubasa would have probably put it, she was in the zone.

"I'm turning out the lights, Kaos," Koyume said at one point. "Don't work too late now! Manga artists need sleep too."

"Of course, Koyume." Kaos nodded, not even looking up from her latest drawing, four panels of her main characters eating ice-cream and joking about it. Koyume was right, but Kaos didn't plan on sleeping anytime soon. She still had a lot of work to do, and it would be a late night.

With only the light from her tablet illuminating her face, Kaos continued to scribble away. She drew numerous sets of four panels showcasing the different characters. While she had a group of four who would be the main ones, she mixed and matched them all the say. Different interactions gave her ample opportunity to make things happen.

At some point, she went back over what she had done, editing as she did so. After what had been a day's worth of work (but felt like much less to her) she finally set her tablet down.

What she needed now was a title.

Kaos got up and stretched widely, yawning a little. She walked over to the window and looked out. The sun would start peeking over the horizon soon, but she could still see the bright full moon and some twinkling stars. Kaos swayed a little on her feet, her tiredness threatening to overwhelm her. Out of nowhere, a title came to her. She went back to her tablet and flipped to her new work's first page to add it:

 _The Stars Aligned, by Kaos._


	3. Chapter 3

"You've been busy, Kaos."

Kaos's editor, Amisawa, sat across the table from her, flipping through the storyboards Kaos had brought.

"I guess I was inspired," Kaos said. She had sat here in the Bunhousha office many, many times, with Amisawa sifting through her work while Kaos awaited the inevitable criticism and rejection. Hopefully, this time would be different, just like when she had turned in her guest manga that had gotten published. Kaos was sure it would be, but at the same time, she wasn't so sure. She went back and forth.

Rarely had she sat here feeling as tired as she did. But that was okay – she was also rarely so pleased with her work when she sat here. These two unusual feelings, coupled with an undercurrent of nerves, made for an interesting combination.

" _The Stars Aligned_ ," Amisawa mused. She looked back up at Kaos. "Another slice-of-life series about high school girls, then?"

"Yes." Kaos nodded.

"It looks like this isn't a continuation of the characters from your guest manga."

"No, this is a new one," Kaos said. "I wanted to create some new characters, so I came up with a whole bunch. And a new setting." Kaos felt a little more confident when describing this storyboard. It was good. She was fairly certain of that at least. But she still needed to hear Amisawa's opinion on it.

"I see," Amisawa said, scanning the pages some more. "Well, at first glance, the artwork looks wonderful, even better than your guest manga, and the artwork in that was already quite good."

"T-Thank you," Kaos said. Her newfound confidence, she knew, was still fragile and could be easily shattered. Hearing Amisawa compliment her artwork was a good sign and calmed her a little.

"And the writing looks good as well," Amisawa said, continuing to read and chuckling at something she saw in the pages. "Unless there's something buried in here that's glaringly wrong, I think I'll be able to accept this."

Kaos felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Amisawa liked it. It would most likely be accepted. She had finally managed a follow-up storyboard that was good.

"R-Really?" she asked.

"Yes. This is going to take me some time to read through, however," Amisawa said. She looked back up at Kaos. "There's a lot here."

"That…that's actually not all of it," Kaos said. She realized her eyes were probably looking a bit droopy. Maybe some movement would help there. She reached down her for bag, which had more storyboards for _The Stars Aligned_ in it. Some of them were self-contained shorts about the side characters she had created. Some of them were small arcs for the main characters.

And those were just the ones Kaos had time to finish. She had others she hadn't completed yet and even more ideas in her head that she had simply made some notes on and hadn't even started. It was though a set of floodgates had opened and work had gushed out of her in a torrent.

Kaos set down the rest of what she had brought on the table in front of her. "Here."

"I see," Amisawa said. She put the storyboard down and eyed the pile. Turning back to Kaos, she said, "You look tired. Have you been sleeping?" Both her voice and her face were full of concern.

"Ah…yes. Some," Kaos said, putting on an impish smile. Truthfully, over the past two days, she hadn't really slept at all. She had worked and worked, even taking her tablet into the bath with her. Koyume had continued to bring her meals in their dorm room (and finished whatever Kaos didn't eat, but that was okay by her).

Amisawa's face took on a look that serious even for her. "Kaos …"

"Okay, I probably do need to sleep more!" she said, holding up her hands. She yawned deeply, unable to help herself. She wasn't made for consecutive all-nighters. The manic energy that had filled her while she worked on _The Stars Aligned_ had definitely run out. Her head swam a little, and her whole body felt worn down. She definitely needed to recharge.

That was no excuse, however, for coming to her meeting in such a state. Kaos bowed her head deeply in apology. When she looked up, she could feel tears were streaming down her face. "Please forgive me for…showing up so tired."

"It's alright, really," Amisawa assured her. "Please, calm down. Again, you've given me a lot to look over, and it looks to be high-quality. Why don't you go back to the dorm and rest while I read through everything? We can discuss this more tomorrow, so make sure to sleep well."

"Okay," Kaos said. She rose up from her chair, stumbling a bit and bumping the table as she did. She grinned sheepishly at Amisawa and half-bowed, afraid that she'd fall over if she did a full bow. "Ah…please excuse me for…showing up tired and being clumsy."

"Kaos, you said that already," Amisawa said, now looking even more concerned. "Should I escort you back to the dorm?"

"No, I don't want to impose," Kaos said. "I'll be okay. Thank you…for…worrying about someone like me."

As Kaos walked back to the dorm, she briefly wondered if she should have taken up Amisawa's offer. Her head kept nodding forward as her body's insistence on falling asleep became stronger and stronger. At least it was bright outside; overcast weather would have made just want to drift off even more. She raised a hand and slapped her face, not hard, but just enough to keep awake.

Kaos thought about how Ruki and Tsubasa constantly pulled all-nighters and worked under strict deadlines. She had assisted them (sort of) in completing their work before time ran out, just as they had also assisted her. If she ever got serialized, she would probably end up in that position as well. She needed to get used to sleeping less, difficult as that would be. After what felt like an eternity, she reached the dorm, and it was all she could do to avoid collapsing at the front door.

Climbing the stairs in the dorm was a bit of an ordeal. She practically had to drag herself up them. She thought back to Tsubasa's offer to carry her around. It was a shame Tsubasa wasn't there at the moment. Kaos would have welcomed being carried back to her room. She again imagined herself being carried, though it was Ruki who was carrying her instead of Tsubasa. She giggled happily a little at that image as she finally reached the top of the stairs and stepped in to the upper floor hallway where the residents' rooms were. She braced herself against the wall as she made her way through it.

 _I'm becoming loopy…hopefully when I get used to not sleeping, this won't happen. Now, where's my room again?_

"Oh my, a wild Kaos appears."

Swaying on her feet, Kaos turned around. Fuura was standing behind her in the middle of the hallway, a frightening grin on her face and a toy skeleton in one hand. She held up the skeleton and made it dance a little, but Kaos was too tired to be properly terrified.

"Hello, senpai…" Kaos said.

Fuura tilted her head, probably confused at not eliciting the normal reaction she got from Kaos. "Is something wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm just tired," Kaos answered. Fuura scared her often, of course, but she was too exhausted to worry about that. "I've been…working a lot on my new manga idea, and I created a lot of storyboards for it. And Ami…Ami…my editor, she liked it."

Fuura pushed her own bangs back, showing her gorgeous, colorful eyes and smiled warmly at her. "Oh? That's so wonderful to her, my dear Kaos. I'm sure you've been working very hard. You've made a lot of progress since I first met you."

"Thank you," Kaos said in a wavy voice. "It's called…the Stars…something…all the stars and the characters all came together and it was all…so..." She couldn't finish her thought and yawned deeply. That was probably rude, so she attempted a small apology.

"Oh, poor Kaos," Fuura cooed. "You don't need to apologize. Have you slept recently?"

Kaos shook her head.

"I see. It's the perpetual curse of us manga artists, isn't it? What you need is to get into bed and close your lovely little eyes. Then you'll be rested enough to scream loudly once again."

"Of course," Kaos said. She only barely registered what Fuura was saying. "I can't scream as much when I'm so tired."

"And we can't have that." Tucking the skeleton under her arm, Fuura took hold of Kaos's hand. Kaos immediately felt a strangely happy sensation, holding Fuura's hand like that. It was soft and cool-feeling.

 _Cold hands, warm heart_ , Kaos mused. Out loud, she simply said "Eheheh," and nothing else. It was kind of difficult for her to form words. Her mind felt mushy.

"Come with me," Fuura said. She started leading Kaos down the hallway. Kaos was about to protest that this was the direction she had come from and that she was pretty sure her room was down another corridor, but as she was so tired, only soft, indistinct noises came out.

"What was that?" Fuura asked. "Are you trying to imitate a cat, Kaos?"

"Sure," Kaos said, watching the hem of Fuura's white dress sway as she walked, back and forth, back and forth. It was a hypnotizing effect. "Meow."

Fuura chuckled. "Black cats are portents of bad, horrific things to come, but I think pink cats might be good luck. What do you think, Kaos?"

"I like cats," Kaos said. Her head was spinning as Fuura pulled her along. Well, this was okay. She wondered if people could sleep while they walked. She felt almost ready to nod off right there when a sharp voice rang out.

"Hey! What's going on?"

Fuura turned around at the sound of the voice. Slowly, Kaos turned back around as well. Ruki was there, watching both of them warily, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Hello, Ruki." Kaos barely managed the words. Her eyelids felt like they had weights attached to them.

"Hello, Kaos," Ruki answered. She turned to Fuura, cleared her throat, and repeated: "What's going on?"

"Kaos is tired," Fuura said. "I'm seeing her off to sleep."

"I see. That's admirable, but that's not the direction of her room," Ruki said. "If I had to guess, I'd say you were taking her to your room."

"She needs to rest somewhere. The poor girl has been working so hard, and she's absolutely exhausted, so I'm escorting her."

"I know you mean well, but I also get the feeling you're just going to try and scare her some more. She won't be able to sleep at all!"

"Nonsense. In my room, she'll sleep like…the dead," Fuura said, grinning. She pulled Kaos by her hand in the direction they had been going once again.

"Good-bye, Ruki," Kaos said weakly.

"Stop that!" Ruki stepped forward and pulled on Kaos's other arm. "I'm taking her back to, uh, her room! Her room, yes."

"I really think she wants to come with me, Ruki," Fuura said, tugging on the hand she held.

Even though she was half-asleep and being pulled in two different directions, Kaos still enjoyed having two cute girls argue over her. A giddy look fell over her face again, and she giggled some more. This was nice. Kaos wished it could happen more often.

Fuura shot another slasher smile at Ruki. "You see? Just look at her happy face."

"That's enough, senpai!" Ruki said, shaking her head. She held up two fingers like a peace sign. "Be…uh…be gone, spirit!"

Fuura dropped Kaos's hand and raised her own hands to her face in mock fright. "Oh, you're exorcising me, just like Tsu-chan does! Well, back to my own deathly work, I suppose."

"Right…come on, Kaos," Ruki said, leading Kaos back down the other direction in the hallway. She had already been dragged one way with Fuura, now it was a different way with Ruki. Kaos just wanted to find a bed and fall into it.

"Sleep well, Kaos," Fuura called after her. "Pleasant screams!"

"Good night, then," Kaos muttered, limply waving her free hand at Fuura.

"Oh, I can't believe her sometimes," Ruki said, dragging Kaos along. "You need to sleep. You're in no condition to just be wandering around."

"Please forgive…" Kaos started to continue, but another deep yawn cut her off. "Please forgive me for troubling you…Ruki…"

"You are never any trouble to me, Kaos," Ruki said, as they walked along. Kaos wasn't sure how or where, but they eventually ended in somewhere with a bed. "Just lie down and sleep until you're refreshed. Then you can tell me about this new manga you're working on that Koyume mentioned."

"Thank you, Ruki," Kaos said. Finally, here was a bed to sleep in. She lied down in it, feeling the coolness of the silky sheets and the softness of the pillow under her head. Unable to resist the call of sleep any longer, she closed her eyes and was out almost instantly.

* * *

 _Is it time to get up already?_

Feeling groggy, Kaos half-opened up her eyes. She tried to turn to see her clock but found that something was holding on to her. No, not something. Someone. Where was she?

She blinked, and Ruki's face came into focus. It was Ruki holding her! She looked and realized this wasn't her own bed. Her eyes darted around. There were a couple of plush rabbits nearby and no anime posters on the wall. Yes, this was definitely Ruki's room and Ruki's bed.

Kaos didn't really mind this development, but couldn't quite remember how it happened.

 _Let's see, I met with my editor…then I came back to the dorm…then I think Fuura and Ruki were both there? Everything after that is a little hazy._

Well, perhaps all that didn't matter. She could rest here a little longer. Over the white noise of the fan that was blowing in the room, however, she could hear the scratching of a pen against paper. Of course, since this was Ruki's room, it was also Tsubasa's. Tsubasa must have been working at her own manga.

Well, Tsubasa probably didn't think anything of Kaos and Ruki snuggling the same bed. Or would she? Kaos briefly wondered if she should get up and sneak out without being noticed. She had never been in this sort of situation before.

Uncertainty aside, she couldn't deny that it made her happy. Smiling to herself, she nuzzled up against Ruki. She sure did smell nice – a mix of fragrant shampoo and a faint bit of ink. It conjured up all sorts of pleasant, fuzzy feelings in Kaos.

She was debating on whether she should get up or stay like that a little longer with Ruki (leaning toward the latter) when she heard a door open and someone crash loudly into the room.

"Tsubasa!" It was Koyume. "I can't find Kaos! She's vanished again. What…what if something happened to her? What if someone really did snatch her away? What if she fell into a hole somewhere and got trapped?" She said all this very quickly.

"Koyume," Tsubasa said. Her voice was quiet and even. "Look."

Kaos heard Koyume gasp. "Oh, so Kaos and Ruki…they've been…um…"

"No, I don't think it's anything like that," Tsubasa said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Koyume gasped again. "Were you watching them?! Tsubasa, I…I didn't know that you…um…That seems…"

Tsubasa sighed. "No, Koyume. They're just sleeping."

Kaos figured she had better put an end to this before it went too far and Koyume really got the wrong idea, despite Tsubasa's explanation. She snapped open her eyes, wriggled out of Ruki's arms, rolled over, and sat up on the edge of the bed.

"Hello, Kaos!" Koyume said. Her voice carried its usual cheeriness but was slightly quieter.

"Ah, good morning," Kaos said, smiling up at both Koyume and Tsubasa. Kaos stretched her arms widely and then her legs some as well. She felt much, much better than she had earlier. "I'm sorry I scared you, Koyume. I was just, well, resting here."

Kaos decided not to mention that she was unable to remember how, exactly, she had ended up in this room and in bed with Ruki. It would probably make her sound like she had been drunk.

"Ah," Koyume said. "So it wasn't…"

"Eh, no," Kaos said, feeling embarrassed.

"Well, then. I'm just glad you're safe, Kaos," Koyume said, patting her head. "I was worried when you didn't come back from your meeting!"

"Sleep well?" Tsubasa asked. She had turned around from her desk and was watching them with amusement.

"Yes, thank you," Kaos. She bowed her head a little. "Please forgive me for taking up space in your room."

"Space?" Tsubasa said, chuckling. "You barely take up any space, Kaos. Besides, you being here certainly makes Ruki happy. I don't think she smiles in her sleep like that usually."

"What?" Kaos looked back at Ruki. She did indeed have a content smile across her face, though her arms were curled up around each other now and not clinging on to Kaos. "Oh, she is smiling, isn't she? Ruki is so pretty like that…"

"Yep," Tsubasa said. "I came in a bit ago, and you two were curled up like that. Are you naptime buddies now?"

"Eheheh," Kaos said, rubbing the back of her neck. She was unsure how to answer that. She had wanted to be closer to Ruki, true, and being curled up in bed with her definitely counted as some version of close.

"It's good Ruki got some rest too," Tsubasa said. "She's been going to bed late and getting up early lately. The dreaded deadline. You know?"

"Eek!" Kaos said. How loud was she being? If Ruki needed to rest, then Kaos needed to keep her own noise level down. "I'll try to be quieter!"

Tsubasa shrugged. "Well, it is going to be dinner time soon. She'll need to get up for that anyway."

"D-Dinner?" Kaos said. She looked at the clock on the wall. It was indeed that late. "WAH! I slept the entire afternoon! I should be working on my manga!"

Unable to stop herself, Kaos had raised her voice while flustered and flapped her arms about. Ruki stirred and rose up a little.

"It's noisy," Ruki complained, stretching her arms. She looked up. "Oh, you're up, Kaos. Feeling awake now?"

"Yes!" Kaos smiled at her.

"Looks like you both slept okay," Tsubasa said.

"Oh, Tsu-chan," Ruki said, turning a little red as she situated herself on the edge of the bed next to Kaos. She turned to Koyume. "And Koyume too…"

Koyume smiled sweetly and waved.

"Well, you see, um…" Ruki said uncertainly. "Kaos was completely exhausted, and I was going to let her rest while I worked, but she looked so peaceful and, well…"

Tsubasa chuckled. "It's okay, Ruki. You don't have to give any big explanation to us. Though I guess that saves me from asking how you two ended up like that."

"It's my fault!" Kaos said. "I was so exhausted." A few tears streamed down her face. "But Ruki helped me out…I'm so happy, so grateful. Ruki always helps me so much…"

"Ah, it's nothing," Ruki said. Now she sounded even more embarrassed. "I mean, I'm glad I've been at least some kind of mentor, maybe…and…um…"

"How did your meeting with your editor go, Kaos?" Koyume asked. "What did she think of your new storyboard?"

"Yes, please share," Tsubasa said. "I'd also like to hear about this new work that caused you to vanish for a few days there. Ruki and I were wondering what happened to you. Koyume said you had been working nonstop."

"Uh, yes," Kaos said. "I'm sorry about that, I just really, really wanted to get it completed before taking it to my editor, and I had so many ideas and so much to do, because the series has grown even since I first thought it up and-" She would have continued on had Ruki not interrupted her.

"You don't have to apologize, Kaos," Ruki said, smiling at her. "And you're killing us with the anticipation here."

"Oh!" Kaos said. "Amisawa liked it. She said that unless she finds something bad, she's accepting it…I'm supposed to meet with her again tomorrow." Kaos suddenly felt a strange twinge of doubt. "I hope she doesn't find anything wrong with it though…"

"Excellent," Tsubasa said. "Well done. Also, you should have more confidence in yourself. This alone is evidence of that. And there can't have been anything majorly wrong with it if it wasn't rejected outright."

"That's wonderful!" Ruki said, hugging her.

"Hooray, Kaos!" Koyume said, throwing her arms around her as well.

"T-Thank you, everyone," Kaos said. She started crying again. She couldn't help it. There were too many emotions rolling around inside her. "You all helped with my guest manga…and supported me…even though I often screw up and…" She sniffed loudly.

"You're our friend, so naturally we'll continue to support and help you," Ruki said. "And don't cry. You've come a long way, and you've done well. Just like Tsu-chan said, you should definitely try to be more confident."

"Alright," Kaos wiped the tears from her face and clenched a fist in determination. "You're all right. I'm a published manga artist. I can do this. I've already been doing this!"

"Exactly!" Koyume said.

"And I-I'm going to aim for Ruki!" Kaos declared.

"Aim for me?" Ruki asked. She blushed a little. "Kaos…"

"Yes!" Kaos said, feeling resolute. "I'm going to keep at my work! What I turned in to my editor was only the beginning!"

"Oh, you were talking about manga." Ruki sounded a little disappointed.

As they ate dinner, Kaos thought about what her friends had said. They had been right, after all. Amisawa had liked _The Stars Aligned_. It was good. Why was confidence so hard to hold on to? How did Ruki, Tsubasa, and Koyume manage that without constantly being plagued by self-doubt? Or were they better at hiding it than she was?

Still, at the same time, she felt like her confidence had been boosted a little. She had managed to create something good again. And with success there would be pressure for more of the same. She'd need to produce more quality manga under stricter, harder deadlines.

After her bath, Kaos figured she had a little time to work before bed. She had to do _something_ after all. Otherwise, the entire day would be shot. She went to her desk to retrieve her tablet but next to it was her phone, and a little light was blinking on it. Who had tried to contact her? She checked it and saw that she had a voice message. Kaos scrolled to her voice mail and began playing it.

 _"Hello, Kaos. This is Amisawa. I'm sure you're sleeping, but I wanted to let you know that we will definitely be accepting The Stars Aligned for publication. The artwork is fantastic, the writing flows well, and the humor is on-point. It made me laugh out loud a few times. You've certainly created something special. Please come to the Bunhousha office tomorrow morning to meet with me. I think there's a strong potential for serialization with this work. Thank you, and have a good evening."_

Amisawa's words hit Kaos like a hammer blow. She dropped her phone, and it clattered as it struck the floor. Stunned, she stood stock still as Koyume looked up and asked her what was wrong.

Serialization? Her? Kaos would finally be a serialized manga artist?

"Kaos?" Koyume asked. "Is everything alright?"

"That was my editor…" Kaos said. "They're going to run _The Stars Aligned_. And…I might get serialized now." She could scarcely believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. She considered pinching herself. This wasn't another dream, was it? No, it couldn't be. In her dreams, it was usually the opposite scenario.

"That's amazing, Kaos!" Koyume said, hopping up and down. "I'm so happy for you! Oh, we have to let Ruki and Tsubasa know! Come on!"

For what she was pretty sure was the third time that day, Kaos found herself being dragged off somewhere by a pretty girl. Down the hallway they dashed, back to Ruki and Tsubasa's room. It would probably be another late night for Kaos and she wouldn't get any more work done, but that was alright. It was time for a celebration with her friends.


	4. Chapter 4

"That's wonderful, Kaos! I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, mom," Kaos said into her phone. She was walking back to the dorm. Her afternoon meeting with her editor had gone wonderfully, and so her first instinct had been to call her mother and give her the good news. "Whether or not it's serialized is ultimately dependent on the reader survey, but Amisawa feels like there's a really, really good chance here…"

"Of course there is!" her mother replied. "You're such a talented manga artist. I can't wait until it's published and I can show it to everyone back here at home."

"Mom…" Kaos was about to tell her what she said was embarrassing. But it wasn't, not really. This was why she drew it, right? For people to enjoy it. "Thank you. I hope it makes everyone smile and laugh."

For so long, it had been two steps forward and one step backward for Kaos. Now, finally, it felt like things were maybe starting to fall into place. She had to do really well with _The Stars Aligned_. Then, perhaps it would be serialized. Her editor had praised it and again reiterated that there was a strong potential for serialization with it. But Kaos also suspected she wanted to be certain. She wanted to see Kaos come through with quality manuscripts, she wanted to see _The Stars Aligned_ get positive responses in the reader surveys, and she wanted to be sure that Kaos could actually handle all this.

Kaos couldn't really blame her. In Amisawa's position, she'd want to be certain too.

After talking with her mother, Kaos put her phone in her pocket and picked up her pace a little as she walked along. Part of her felt like she was still floating on air. Part of her was still extremely nervous. She might have thought steps toward success would help with this some, but perhaps that would take even more time. Waiting to cross a street, she replayed Amisawa's words in her mind.

 _I'm proud of how far you've come and that you're living up to the potential I saw in you. Work hard on the manuscript. Then we'll see what the reader surveys say after it's published. Remember, it's not going to get any easier and will actually get much harder. But keep at it, just like you have been. You have a lot of people supporting you._

Recalling her praise brought a smile to Kaos's face. But her other words had stuck with Kaos as well. She knew she couldn't rest easy.

Back in her room at the dorm, Kaos immediately started on the manuscript that would be the debut of _The Stars Aligned_. She had to work quickly. That alone would be difficult, but she also had to produce outstanding work. This would require all her power and concentration. And since this would be the readers' introduction to the characters, she really needed to stick the landing. One never got a second chance to make a first impression in life, and that went for fictional characters as well.

Sitting at the table in her room, Kaos started drawing on her tablet and saw her next manuscript slowly begin to take shape. She spent the rest of the day there once again, as her manuscript got larger and larger. She did take a few breaks this time, unlike when she had drawn up the storyboards. She had to work well, but not to the point of absolute exhaustion again. She filled in her friends on how her meeting with her editor had gone.

When she was back to work the next day, she looked up from the table and noticed Koyume shuffling around, putting papers into a bag and changing her clothes.

"Heading out, Koyume?" Kaos asked, laying her tablet down.

"I've got a meeting with my editor this morning," Koyume said, as she buttoned her blouse. "Lots of things to talk about, you know?"

"Good luck," Kaos said, nodding. Koyume was serialized but rarely seemed to have any trouble dealing with the pressures that came with that. "I guess the work on your new storyboard went well?"

"Yes!" Koyume said. She reached into her bag, pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Kaos. "See, here's its summary."

"This is…a chart?" Kaos said. The paper showed a number of different miniature character portraits with names under them and arrows pointing between different ones saying things like 'crush,' 'rival,' 'friend,' and so on. To no surprise, the boy characters all resembled Tsubasa. If it weren't for the character portraits, Kaos might have thought it was one of those complicated diagrams from her science textbook.

"Yep!" Koyume said. "There's a lot of drama in this one, so it's one big love triangle."

"Koyume," Kaos said carefully, handing back the paper. "That almost looks more like a love octagon than a love triangle."

"Oh, I like that!" Koyume said. "Maybe I'll describe it like that instead."

"How do you keep track of it all?" Kaos asked. "It seems complicated." She thought of _The Stars Aligned_ with its eight main characters, but there wasn't any sort of major, complicated drama in it. And Kaos didn't really have plans to add any.

"Oh, it's all up here!" Koyume said, pointing at her head. She put the chart in her case with the rest of her storyboard. "Eating sweets improves your memory, you know."

"I see…" Kaos wasn't so sure about that. But it apparently worked for Koyume. Kaos wondered if maybe she should eat more sweets, but she could barely get halfway through some things before her tummy was full. "That's impressive work, Koyume."

"Thank you. Well, I'm off," Koyume said, heading for the door. "And I'm going out afterward. So, have a good day, Kaos! Work hard, but not hard!"

"I will," Kaos said, though she wasn't sure moderation was really her strong point. "Where are you going out?"

Koyume stopped and turned around. There was a bright smile on her face, and while Koyume was usually smiling, Kaos knew there was only one thing that made her smile like that.

"Tsubasa has a meeting with her editor as well," Koyume said. "So we're going to eat somewhere together afterward…and then maybe something else…I don't know yet."

Kaos had been right.

"Like a date?" she asked Koyume.

"Uh..." Koyume blushed. "Maybe. I guess you could call it that?"

"That's nice," Kaos said. She pictured her two friends eating at a café or maybe holding hands while walking. The image was so cute and wholesome, she just wanted to burst. It was more difficult to imagine herself doing something like that, but Kaos was glad she was able to live vicariously through her friends if nothing else. Part of her wished she could watch them, but she probably didn't need to share that out loud. She smiled back at Koyume. "I hope you have a good time!"

"I always do," Koyume said. "Well, good-bye!"

With Koyume off to her meeting and date, Kaos went back to work. It was a little hard to keep her mind on manga at first – visions of Koyume and Tsubasa kept floating across her mind. But she channeled the warmth she felt from thinking about that into drawing her manga. Granted, _The Stars Aligned_ wasn't quite a romance manga – and she wasn't sure how far she'd want to take it in that direction – but there was something about the whole Koyume-Tsubasa pairing that just made her feel so happy. It made her smile and feel warm, but it also made her want to draw and write.

She had made some decent progress on her manuscript when a voice at her door intertupted her.

"Kaos?"

Kaos looked up. Ruki was peeking into her room, holding her sketchbook and a pencil case.

"Hi, Ruki!" Kaos said. She waved her hand a little. "Please, come in. What's up?"

"Well," Ruki said, stepping into the room. "Since Tsubasa and Koyume have gone out, I figured maybe you and I could spend time together, working, chatting, whatever." She leaned down and looked over Kaos's shoulder. "How's your manuscript coming?"

"Steadily," Kaos answered, glad to be able to give an answer other than 'poorly' or 'slowly' for once. "I think I should be able to hand it in before the deadline." She suddenly felt nervous. "Of course, even after that comes all the waiting…to know if people like it…"

"It'll be fine, Kaos," Ruki assured her. She sat down at the table next to Kaos. "Say, may I take a look at it?"

"Sure…" Kaos passed some of the storyboard papers over to Ruki, who took a pair of glasses out of her pocket and put them on. Kaos smiled a little. Seeing Ruki in glasses was always a treat. She looked mature and sophisticated as it was, but even more so when she had her glasses on. It made Kaos want to draw and write even more.

Ruki skimmed through the pages, chuckling here and there and occasionally commenting "Cute!" At one point, she stopped and commented: "This girl looks a little familiar, Kaos…"

Kaos immediately suspected she knew which girl Ruki was referring to – the one whose appearance mirrored Ruki's. She looked over and saw Ruki pointing at a character on a page. She had been right. Suddenly feeling embarrassed, Kaos buried her face in her hands. One of her characters in her guest manga had looked like Ruki some, but here the resemblance was far more striking. And this was for a potential series, not simply a one-shot guest manga.

Koyume, of course, had drawn a number of characters that looked like Tsubasa, but neither she nor Tsubasa had ever seemed to notice for some reason. Ruki, on the other hand, was as sharp-eyed as ever. It figured that she would spot a character who looked like her.

"Uh, I can change her if you don't like her!" Kaos said through her fingers, not looking up at Ruki. Her face felt hot, and she was sure she was blushing. "I didn't mean to…I mean…I like girls who look like Ruki…and…I wanted to…"

"Whoa, calm down. It's alright, Kaos," Ruki said. She reached over and patted Kaos's head. "I like the idea of appearing in a funny, wholesome manga series. Well, a character like me, that is."

"S-She also wears glasses sometimes," Kaos said slowly, looking back up.

"Does she?" Ruki smiled and put a hand to her own glasses.

Ruki continued to skim through the work, reminding Kaos of Amisawa a little as she did. Suddenly she laughed merrily.

"Oh, Kaos," she said, holding another page up. "I didn't think characters would be aware of their own comic panels."

Kaos looked at where Ruki was pointing again. In that particular strip, one character was looking up from the fourth panel and wondering aloud, what exactly had happened in the previous three. The two girls next to her looked up alongside her, but couldn't figure out what she was looking at.

"I-I was trying to for a bit of ambiguous humor there," Kaos said. "Sort of fourth-wall breaking, but it's not entirely explicit that she can actually see the comic panels…" It was a bit she had seen in some gag anime and manga series. Granted, Kaos didn't intend to take it as far as they usually did, since _The Stars Aligned_ wasn't meant to be solely a gag series. "D-Do you think it's okay? I can skip that or change it if you think it doesn't work!"

"No, no, it's good, Kaos," Ruki said. "It's cute. And clever too. I'm not trying to suggest things for you to change, Kaos. I'm telling you what I like about your manga. It's very good work."

"T-Thank you, Ruki," Kaos said. Being praised by her editor, well, that was part of her work (finally, anyway). Being praised by her mother made her happy. But being praised by Ruki felt entirely different. "I just keep worrying that maybe I've messed up something or done something wrong."

"You've done fine, Kaos, as we all keep saying," Ruki said. She put the storyboard back down on the table and peered at Kaos over her glasses. "Your manga is good, and your editor likes it. It's at least going to be run. So, don't worry about it."

"Thank you, Ruki," Kaos said quietly. She teared up a little. "I'm trying to be more confident, even though it's really hard sometimes. Your support…and everyone else's…it means so much to me…and I'm scared of failing…well, failing some more, I mean…"

"Oh, Kaos." Ruki reached out, put her arms around her, and held her tightly. "You never change do you?"

 _I really don't_ , Kaos almost wanted to retort, _in pretty much any way you can think of._ But any negative feelings she had were instantly washed away by Ruki hugging her.

A funny idea suddenly occurred to Kaos. She pressed her hands together as if in prayer, closed her eyes, and bowed her head slightly.

 _Thank you, God._

"Don't thank God, Kaos!" Ruki admonished her, chuckling a little. "I thought we'd been over that."

"Couldn't help it," Kaos replied, opening her eyes and grinning up at Ruki. Success! She had gotten just the reaction she had been seeking. Making Ruki laugh felt nearly as good as being hugged by her. Besides, she was writing more comedic manga, so it followed that she should be funny sometimes. She wondered what comedy manga artists were like in real life.

Ruki released Kaos from her embrace and said "You know, Koyume and Tsubasa are going to go out and have fun. There's no reason you and I can't go do something as well."

"W-What?" Kaos said, feeling a little surprised and perplexed. It was odd for Ruki to suddenly suggest this out of the blue. She was generally very serious when it came to their manga. "Shouldn't we both be working?"

"I suppose if you're that worried about not finishing your manuscript before your deadline, we could go another day," Ruki said. "I only thought that, well, that it would be nice. You and me going out, Kaos. Just…us." She sounded a little hesitant.

"I guess a break would be okay," Kaos said, nervously waving her hands. Granted, going out would mean she wouldn't get to see Ruki in her glasses, but still, she'd be able to spend more time with her nonetheless. "I'll think of it as gathering research for future manga storylines. Whatever we do, maybe I can use that in a chapter."

"That's the spirit," Ruki said, smiling at her in approval. "It doesn't have to be anything big. I know you probably don't want to go clothes shopping, though."

"I-I wouldn't mind doing that!" Kaos said. Granted, being small enough to where she could still buy from the children's department was a little embarrassing, but she could at least watch Ruki try on outfits or something.

Ruki raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure?"

"I, uh…"

"It's alright, there are other things we can do," Ruki said. "Now let me see…"

A voice just outside the room suddenly spoke up.

"There's a wonderful café that opened up nearby just before the work on the new dormitory was finished. I haven't had the time to visit it myself, but if someone were to go, try it, and report back to me how it is, I'd certainly be grateful."

Kaos and Ruki looked over toward the voice. Standing in the doorway was the housemother, smiling sweetly at both of them. She had a broom in one hand but also had a clipboard that she looked to be making notes on.

"Housemother…" Ruki said slowly. "Were you…"

"Oh, I just happened to be passing by while sweeping the hall," the housemother said. She handed Ruki the small paper flyer. "Here you are, directions to the new café and a sampling of their menu."

Does she always have things like these ready to hand out? This wasn't the first time the housemother had done something like this, Kaos recalled. Well, maybe she just cared about the residents of the dorm that much. They were certainly lucky to have someone like her watching over them.

As Ruki flipped through the menu, the housemother added "And if you're short on pocket money, just let me know. You can always go and pay me back later."

"Alright," Ruki said. "Kaos, what do you think?"

"S-Sure," Kaos said. "That sounds like fun."

"Excellent!" the housemother said. Very quietly, she added, "It's definitely a scenario where some progress can happen."

"What was that?" Ruki asked, tilting her head.

"Oh, nothing!" the housemother replied, adjusting her glasses. "You two have fun now and be sure to give me a full report on that café!"

* * *

…anyway, that's _The Stars Aligned_ a nutshell…well, a pretty big nutshell, I guess."

Kaos sat across from Ruki at the little café they had gone to. She had ordered a chocolate parfait that looked absolutely delicious but had barely touched it. Instead, when Ruki asked her a little more about her new manga, she had launched into a long explanation of the characters and the little subplots and jokes she wanted to do with it.

"I see," Ruki said. "That's very thorough. You've put a lot of thought into this."

"Ah! I'm sorry for carrying on," Kaos said. "I know I get bad about geeking out when it comes to these types of manga and anime sometimes…and this is my own, no less…"

"That's alright, Kaos. I think the way you get into series you like is very cute. And of course, you should be enthusiastic about your own work. It's yours, after all."

"You think so?"

"Of course. That attitude will help you keep going, after all. In times when you get stuck or feel like you're in a rut, you can draw on that to help get you through it."

Kaos nodded. She wasn't sure what else to say, so she ate a large spoonful of her chocolate parfait to avoid having to give a direct answer. That turned out to be a bit of a mistake – after she had swallowed, she felt a sharp pain in her head.

"OW!" she said, rubbing her head. "I-I think I ate too much too fast."

"Are you alright?" Ruki asked, chuckling a little. "You've got to be careful shoveling down ice cream like that."

Kaos smiled weakly at Ruki. She liked making her laugh, but not in the act of embarrassing herself.

They eventually decided that they would be able to report back to the housemother that the café was indeed satisfactory (whether that had been the housemother's goal in sending them there was another question, but Kaos decided to not pursue that line of thought).

As they were walking from the café back to the dorm, Kaos heard a high-pitched bark behind her. She turned around and saw a little gold-haired dog with patches of black in its coat running up to her. Its tail was upright. Smiling, Kaos knelt down. The dog stopped right in front of her and perched its front legs on her knees. Kaos scratched its head, and it yipped happily at her, licking at her hand.

"Tora!" someone called. Kaos looked up. A girl was running over to them. She looked as though she might be in middle school, though Kaos reminded herself that looks could be deceiving (she herself was proof of that). The girl was holding what looked like a red leash. Kaos figured this dog was probably hers. The little dog looked back at the girl and then back at Kaos. It leaned forward and licked her face, tickling her. Kaos giggled a little, and the dog wagged its tail even harder.

"Tora!" the girl said again as she caught up to them. She looked down at Kaos. "I'm terribly sorry he's bothering you."

"Ah…it's okay," Kaos said, suddenly feeling nervous. It was much easier to talk with the dog than its owner. She stood up quickly and made a slight bow to the girl. "I'm, uh, I'm sorry…for…um…petting your dog without permission."

"What?" The girl tilted his head. "No, it's alright. Though he doesn't usually like other people that much, especially strangers."

"H-He seems like a very friendly dog to me," Kaos said. The dog continued to jump at her legs, trying to get her attention again. "And his name is Tora, you said?"

"Yes, that's right," the girl said. She looked down at Tora and added "You shouldn't run off like that! You might have scared this little girl and her big sister."

 _We're not sisters_ , Kaos thought. Out loud, she said nothing though. This dog was tiny and probably wouldn't scare anyone. It was adorable though.

"Really, it's alright," Ruki said. "She's good with animals."

"She must be," the girl said, smiling at Kaos.

"T-Thanks," Kaos said. "Um…is it okay if I pet him a little more?"

After a few minutes of playing with Taro and petting him some more, Kaos and Ruki said good-bye to him and his owner and turned down the street that led back to the dorms.

"What a cute dog!" Kaos exclaimed.

"Very cute," Ruki said. "I wish I had brought my phone."

"To take a picture of it?"

"To take a picture of you playing with it, Kaos."

Ruki had wanted another picture of her? That was a nice feeling. Kaos, of course, had brought her phone with her. She held it out.

"M-Maybe you and I can take a picture together," she suggested.

"Really?" Ruki's face lit up. "I'd like that."

Kaos pressed up against Ruki, who put her arm around her. She held out her phone in front of her and snapped a picture of the two of them. It turned out perfect. When she showed it to Ruki, she looked delighted.

"I feel like I should get a fancier phone," Ruki said. "Then I could take nice pictures like this. But they seem so complicated."

"It's not so bad, Ruki!" Kaos said. "It just takes a little practice. If you got a newer one, I'd be happy to help you with it."

"Alright, Kaos. I might take you up on that sometime."

Kaos's outing with Ruki turned out to be a boon for her work in more than one way. There was the fact that now she could draw a comic about visiting a little café (along with a character getting an ice-cream headache) but more than that, the feeling she got from spending time alone with Ruki was a wave she felt like she could ride forever.


	5. Chapter 5

"It's important to make a strong debut for a new series. The crisper the drawings, the better the writing, the higher your chances are of being serialized."

Amisawa had told Kaos that, and Kaos took her words seriously.

Over the next few days, Kaos continued to work on her manuscript. She managed to even complete it early, turning it in one day before her deadline. She knew that if her friends had assisted her, she'd have finished it even earlier, but she wanted at least the debut of _The Stars Aligned_ to be solely her own. Amisawa had noted her adherence to the deadline and wondered if Kaos had been especially eager to finish. She had been right about that. Pleased with the manuscript, she had also complimented Kaos on its quality (a rare occurrence that Kaos welcomed) but reminded her to get started on the second manuscript immediately and that the next deadline would sneak up on her before she knew it.

Amisawa was right about that too.

So Kaos wasted no time, throwing herself into the second chapter of _The Stars Aligned_. Sometimes, she worked alone, other times alongside Koyume or all three of her fellow manga artist friends. Sometimes, it was just her and Ruki working together. Kaos treasured Koyume and Tsubasa, of course, but she loved her time with Ruki most of all.

Of course, while she was working on the second chapter came the inevitable waiting for the publication and reception of the first chapter. At one time, Kaos wouldn't have believed this would be just as difficult as coming up with a storyboard and producing a real manga. She experienced harsh lurches of nerves at random times. She'd break out crying, worried that maybe the manga wasn't as good as everyone had said and that it would be received just as her debut a year past had been (Kaos still shuddered thinking about her survey results from that one).

On the morning school started back, Kaos wondered if she'd be able to balance her schoolwork and finishing manuscripts for her manga. She had done storyboards, sure, but constantly producing storyboards (and having them rejected) was a bit different than producing a manuscript that was actually going to be published. When she nervously brought this up to her friends, they were as supportive and reassuring as ever.

"You learn to balance," Ruki said. "Of course, sometimes you have to forego sleep or other activities on occasion in order to keep up with all the demand." Kaos wasn't sure she could manage that, however.

"You come to work smarter and more efficiently," Tsubasa said. "Able to do more in a smaller amount of time."

Kaos wasn't so sure she could manage that either.

"Or you could just sleep through your classes like Tsu-chan does," Ruki said, frowning.

"All great heroes must rest now and then," Tsubasa said. "I have to remain connected to my characters."

"I suppose they all sleep through their classes as well," Ruki retorted. Kaos smiled. For someone whose job it was to draw lewd things, Ruki could also be pretty witty sometimes.

"The lessons they need to learn can't be taught in any classroom," Tsubasa said. "Just like some lessons in real life."

"You're so right!" Koyume said, smiling at her.

Tsubasa was right, Kaos decided. There were definitely lessons she had learned over the past year in the dormitory that she could never have learned in school. All the tips, tricks, and techniques for improving one's manga that she had learned from her friends in the dorm, well, those weren't taught anywhere. And then there were the larger life lessons of making friends, being close with them, and spending time together. Being so shy, she had never picked those up in her life before, but being among fellow manga artists had allowed her to do that in a way that would never have been possible.

Kaos might have said as much to her friends, but carrying on so much would probably have made them all late for school.

On the way to school, Kaos suddenly found something new to worry about: the potential class shuffle. What would happen if she ended up in another class without any of her friends? She'd have been fine being in Koyume's class, but what if she was moved to a class where she was by herself? Would she only see her friends during lunch and breaks? What if she couldn't make new friends?

What if, what if, what if. A dozen "what ifs" ran through Kaos's mind, making her worry and stress the whole way to school. And this was on top of the constant undercurrent of worry about her manga. As usual, it must have all shown on her face. Ruki told her to calm down, saying this was just the first day of school and that she didn't need to get so worked up.

Even with Ruki, Kaos was reluctant to share what was really bothering her.

When they reached school, there was a large crowd around the posted class rolls. While her friends tried to peer over the heads of their fellow students (not something Kaos could have managed anyway), she buried her face in her hands, worried that she'd end up all alone.

"Oh, look!" She heard Koyume say happily. "All four of us are in the same class this year!"

"R-Really?" Kaos asked nervously, looking up. At first, she thought she had been hearing things. All four of them were together? It sounded too good to be true.

"We are," Tsubasa said. "That's good to see."

"This should be an interesting year," Ruki said.

Kaos strained her neck and jumped to glance at the class roll sheets. Sure enough, under class 2-2, all four of their names were listed.

"And Nijino is our homeroom teacher again!" Kaos said, seeing whose name was at the top. That was certainly nice: another school year spent attending class with a beautiful teacher.

 _Wait. She knows we're all manga artists._ Kaos suddenly couldn't help but wonder if Nijino had made an arrangement to ensure the four of them were together. Teachers could probably do that, after all. Maybe she wanted to make sure they could be there for each other during school. Maybe she wanted to keep tabs on them, especially Tsubasa, whose manga she was a big fan of. Maybe it was a bit of both.

But in the end, whether Nijino had made sure they were together or if it was just random chance didn't matter. What mattered was that the four of them were together. That was at least one less thing Kaos could worry about. She could spend her time stressing about deadlines and manuscript quality instead.

"Say," Ruki said quietly to her. "Do you think Koyume will spend her entire school day watching Tsu-chan?"

"I hope so!" Kaos said without thinking. She immediately felt a little silly, but Ruki smiled at her.

Like Ruki, Kaos supported her two friends' closeness. She certainly wanted to see more development with regards to that. It went without saying that they were cute together (something Kaos loved seeing), but more importantly, Kaos could also see how happy it made the both of them. Really, Koyume and Tsubasa were meant for each other.

Kaos idly wondered if she would experience anything like that. She briefly looked at Ruki and thought of the outing they had gone on the other with a little push from the housemother. Maybe she and Ruki could…

 _But would that really work? Ruki's so mature and sophisticated and beautiful, and I'm just, well, me._

Well, a girl could certainly dream. There was no harm in that, was there? And she was grateful to have such mature, gorgeous types to admire in the first place: Ruki, Fuura, and her teacher. Even her editor and the housemother of the dorm had such qualities in their own ways. Of course, out of all of those, Ruki was the one to whom she was closest, and Ruki was the most special in some ways, and-

"C'mon, Kaos!" Koyume called. "We'll leave you standing out here by yourself if you don't hurry!"

"Huh?" Kaos looked around. Her friends and the other students had all apparently gone off to class while she had been lost in her own thoughts. The hallway was nearly deserted. Kaos quickly sprinted after them, in so much as she could sprint.

"Hey!" someone called. "No running in the halls!"

In class, Kaos quickly found her desk. She wasn't sitting next to any of her friends, but that was okay. They were right there in the same classroom with her. As homeroom began, she took a quick peek behind her and saw Koyume was indeed already making lovey-dovey eyes at Tsubasa. Kaos smiled at this.

Ruki noticed her gaze and smiled back, pointing to her own head as she did. Kaos decided to repeat their running gag – she briefly clasped her hands together in prayer, and Ruki responded by wagging a finger at her. Success! Tsubasa, finally noticing both of them, just shook her head and then laid it down on her desk and closed her eyes.

Ruki had been right. This would definitely be an interesting school year.

* * *

On the day _The Stars Aligned_ was published, Kaos wanted to hide in her room and not come out. It took a lot of coaxing from Ruki, Koyume, and Tsubasa before she'd even go downstairs for breakfast, along with a reminder that "worrying over manga" was unlikely to be accepted as an excuse for being absent from school, even if her homeroom teacher knew what she did.

That, of course, didn't stop Kaos from worrying over manga the entire day. Her stomach felt knotted. The housemother had made a light breakfast for her, but it still didn't sit well. She had only eaten her breakfast after Ruki (with some urging from the housemother) had firmly told her that she needed to eat.

For some reason, Kaos's teacher Nijino didn't call on her during class. She wondered if her teacher noticed her stress; she recalled Nijino constantly telling her to relax during exams, so perhaps she picked up on her moods fairly quickly. Still, this didn't stop Kaos's nerves from being even more strained when she was summoned to the faculty office during the class break. Was she going to get yelled for that? That might not have been so bad if it was Nijino doing the scolding, but what if she brought in another teacher or even the principal?

By the time Kaos reached the faculty office, she had worked herself into even more of a mess. She sat down in a chair across from Nijino and held tightly on to it in order to keep herself from shaking.

"Moeta-san," Nijino said, looking at her sympathetically. "You've really seemed on edge today. Very much so, even for you. Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine," Kaos said, standing up and bowing frantically, tears running down her face. "Please forgive me for not behaving in school. I will try to do better. I will-"

"Calm down," Nijino said. "And sit back down. It's alright, really. You haven't done anything wrong. You're a good student and well-behaved. I'm just a little concerned about you."

"I'm okay," Kaos said, sitting back down, gasping a little. "I, um, that is to say…"

"Please, you can confide in me." She leaned in toward her, smiled, and lowered her voice a little. "Is it something manga-related?"

She looked even more gorgeous when she smiled, and that had a slight calming effect on Kaos. It would be safe to tell her teacher what was wrong. Maybe she'd understand.

"W-Well," Kaos said. Her voice picked up speed as she launched into her explanation. "I-I have a manga that's being published today, and I want it to do well, and I'm nervous about its reception, and I think it's good, and my editor liked it, but still I don't know, and sometimes I just-"

"Slow down, slow down," Nijino said gently, patting her arm."It's alright. It's completely natural to be nervous, but it wouldn't have been accepted for publication if it wasn't good, right?"

"I guess," Kaos said, feeling tears well up in her eyes again.

"What sort of manga do you draw?" Nijino asked. "Is it anything like, well…"

"Y-Yonkoma," Kaos said. "Light-hearted, slice-of-life comedy."

"I see." Nijino smiled even more widely at her, and her eyes twinkled. "That can be a fun genre too, setting up little jokes and gags, and then snap, just like that, you're in the next set of panels."

"S-Sensei?" Kaos asked, uncertain.

Nijino blinked, and a stern look fell over her face. She cleared her throat and sharply said: "Ahem! Your manga is published, and there's little point in worrying over its reception until you actually know what your readers think. While you're at school, you will calm yourself so that you are able to focus on your class and your studies. Understood, Moeta-san?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Kaos said, jumping up and bowing her head. Now she was the one smiling, a warm fuzzy feeling coming over her. She had secretly wanted something like this to happen for a long time. Who knew this was what she had to do in order to make that happen?

 _This was what I needed. I think I can make it through the rest of the day just fine now._

On the way home from school, Kaos stopped with her friends at a bookstore. She saw _Manga Time Kirara_ on the shelf. Picking up, she flipped through until she came to the page with her manga. She skimmed through the comic, briefly ignoring the noise of the bookstore in the background.

"Are you going to buy that, Kaos?" Koyume asked over her shoulder.

"WAH!" Kaos jumped, startled a little by Koyume's sudden appearance. She hadn't heard her. "I, um, well, I already know the story…and it feels strange to buy my own manga…"

"Well, I'm buying it," Ruki said, coming up to them. "You'll always have my support, Kaos."

"And mine as well," Tsubasa added.

"Everyone…" Kaos said, tearing up again. "You're all so…"

"Careful!" Koyume said. "If you cry on that magazine, it'll be hard for whoever buys it to read your manga!"

"I-I'm going to buy it!" Kaos said. It would indeed feel a little strange to be buying her own manga, but why not? She could read the others in the magazine as well for some future inspiration. "I have to keep something so that I don't forget about these special moments!" She clutched the magazine to herself tightly.

Ruki chuckled. "You're hardly an old lady, Kaos."

"Yeah, that's Ruki, not you," Tsubasa said.

"Hey!" Ruki shot Tsubasa a playful look.

Kaos wiped the tears from her face. Really, she was happy. She was a published manga artist yet again. She was with her friends. Really, what more could she ask for?

 _Well, a few things, but I don't want to get greedy. I need to count the blessings I've been given._

On the way back to the dorm, Kaos noticed she had received multiple messages congratulating her on her publication. One was from her editor, who also told her to keep working on her next manuscript (Kaos didn't really need another reminder, but figured it was good to get one all the same). One was from her mother, who told her that everyone in her neighborhood loved _The Stars Aligned_ (one of them, an old lady who used to give Kaos oranges, apparently loved the character-peeping-across-the-panels gag). Kaos thought of how Ruki and Tsubasa were unable to share what they did with their own families and silently thanked her mother. She'd definitely call her later as well. Her mother was someone else who had supported in this from the start.

After dinner, Kaos somehow found herself in the bath alone with Ruki. She wasn't entirely sure how it had come about, but she found that she didn't really mind this either.

The bath in the new dorm was larger than the old one. There was more space, and everything was still pristine and shiny as ever. This bath also didn't have a window between in and the dorm kitchen. Kaos was grateful for this – there'd be none of the jarring 'surprises' she had gotten while bathing in the old dorm.

At the same time, with just her and Ruki, Kaos still felt a little nervous. She had bathed with the other girls many times, of course. But for some reason, being alone with Ruki made her stomach feel like it butterflies and that her heart was fluttering. It made simultaneously made her want to dance and sing (which would have looked silly, as she wasn't wearing anything) and also want to curl up and hide.

In the bath, however, she couldn't really do either of those. The hot water was soothing and relaxing, and that made it at least a little easier. She inched her way near Ruki, trying to make conversation as she did.

"N-Nice bath salts," Kaos said.

"They are," Ruki agreed. For some reason, she sounded a little nervous too, but Kaos couldn't imagine why. Didn't things like this happen in her manga all the time, people bathing together?

"They're from Hokkaido," Kaos said. "They're supposed to remind you of it when you're in the bath. But at least they don't actually make the water cold or something."

Ruki chuckled a little at this. "Feeling better, Kaos? You seemed a bit strung out today. I know it's rough and that you were worried about your manga…"

"I-I'm okay, really," Kaos said. How many times over the day had she said that to different people?

And at this point, it was mostly true. She had been a wreck earlier in the day, but now in the bath with Ruki, she could at least deal a little better with the nerves she felt. She had tried not to stare at Ruki too much – her lovely skin, her hair, her legs, her, well, everything – but it was hard not to.

"Koyume was having her post-dinner donut before I came down here," Kaos said. "What was Tsu-chan up to?"

"She had turned out all the lights in our room except for her desk lamp. She said that the hero was traversing a dark cave with only his lantern for light, so she needed the correct atmosphere to work on that part."

"Or maybe she just likes being in the dark," Kaos said, recalling the times she and Tsubasa had played video games together in the dark.

"Maybe. What are you going to after this, Kaos?"

"Get back to work," Kaos said. "The second chapter of The Stars Aligned is nearly complete, so I want to get that done and turn it in early. Then I can start on chapter three."

"You're so diligent and punctual," Ruki said. "Koyume seems to have no trouble with deadlines either. I don't know how you two do it."

"I-I wasn't the first time," Kaos said, recalling how she had turned in her guest manga at the least minute. "I'm trying to do my best, work hard, and show that I can really do this."

"Oh, Kaos," Ruki said. "As I've said before, you've already shown that you can."

"T-Thank you, Ruki."

"You're welcome." She looked over at Kaos. "This is nice, isn't it?"

"It is," Kaos said. "The bath here is really big."

"There's that of course," Ruki said. "But I meant…you know, just you and me here."

Kaos looked over at Ruki. Her face was a little red.

"I…like it too, Ruki," she said quietly. At one time, she would might have freaked out over something like this (for multiple reasons), but now her nerves had finally, completely calmed. There was nothing else to worry about her, there was just her and Ruki.

Ruki scooted over a little closer to her. She reached out and gently stroked Kaos's hair. When she was done, Kaos leaned her head against Ruki's shoulder and sighed contentedly. She couldn't put her finger on exactly why, but being like this just felt so…right.


	6. Chapter 6

"T-This is Kaos."

Kaos nervously picked up her phone when she saw Amisawa's name come up. She had been sitting in her room, working away on the second chapter of _The Stars Aligned_ when it rang (she was so nervous that it had actually made her jump up). Kaos knew there was only one reason why Amisawa would be calling her.

"Hello, Kaos," Amisawa said. "I have the full survey results back from the first chapter of _The Stars Aligned_."

Here it was, the moment of the truth, what Kaos had been both eagerly anticipating and fearing with dread.

"H-How are they?" she asked, her hand shaking so hard she was worried she'd drop her phone.

"In a word: wonderful," Amisawa said. "Everything about it was praised: the artwork, the story, the characters, the jokes. It was ranked second in the reader surveys."

"…what?" Kaos fell to her knees. Now she actually did drop her phone. It hit the floor with a clatter and faced up as it landed. Koyume, noticing this, got up from her desk and knelt down beside Kaos, looking at her with concern.

"Kaos?" Amisawa said over the phone. "Kaos, are you there? Hello?"

Kaos was too stunned to say anything. It was as if the whole world had stopped. She had hoped and hesitantly expected to do well, even if that little voice in the back of her mind constantly insisted that she wouldn't. In the end, it seemed that she had proved it wrong.

Her mouth hanging open, Kaos looked over at Koyume. Koyume looked from Kaos to the phone on the floor, tilting her head. Finally, she snatched up the phone and held it to her ear, putting her other arm around Kaos she did.

"Hello!" Koyume said brightly into the phone. "This is Kaos's roommate, Koyume Koizuka. Kaos seems indisposed at the moment. If you tell it to me, I can pass on your message. What-"

"I-I'm not!" Kaos said, snapping back to her senses. In her excitement, she raised her voice. "I'm okay! Really! Maybe I please have my phone back, Koyume?"

She tried to turn and grab for it, but only ended up pushing into Koyume, who cried out, surprised. Koyume fell over and pulled Kaos down with her. Both girls ended up on the floor with Kaos on top of Koyume. Kaos's phone flew from Koyume's hand, across the room and striking the wall. It landed on her bed silently.

"My phone!" Kaos exclaimed. "Wait, please!"

She scrambled to get up, but so did Koyume at the same time. In the ensuing scuffle, they became entangled. Kaos tripped over Koyume's legs and fell facedown against her, her own face pressed into her roommate's soft chest.

Normally, Kaos would have been okay with this, but it really wasn't the time for such a thing.

There was a knock on their door, and it slid open.

"Girls?" It was the housemother. "I heard quite a bit of noise and some yelling. Is everything-oh my."

Kaos and Koyume both looked up at the housemother. She was adjusting her glasses and peering down on them with the same serene smile she usually wore. She put one hand to her mouth and looked as though she was trying not to laugh.

"Uh, this isn't what it looks like!" Kaos said, getting up off of Koyume.

"I'm sure it isn't," the housemother said. "Are you both alright?"

"Yes, Kaos is so small and light, so having her on top of me really isn't all that bad," Koyume said. "In a way, it's actually kind of nice. We were just having a bit of clumsy tumble. I guess you could call it a clumble."

"I see…"

"Don't phrase it like that, Koyume!" Kaos cried. "What you said makes it sound a little dodgy!"

"Dare I even ask?" the housemother said. Now she really was snickering, as well as making notes on the clipboard she was carrying.

"Well, Kaos got her survey results back, and I didn't catch it all, but it sounds like they were good," Koyume said.

"That's right!" Kaos exclaimed, remembering she was supposed to be talking with Amisawa. "My survey results! Amisawa-san!" Kaos grabbed her phone off of Koyume's bed and saw that Amisawa was still on the line. "Amisawa-san?" Kaos practically shouted into her phone, thankful her editor hadn't hung up on her.

"Kaos?"

"I'm here!" Kaos said frantically. "I'm really sorry, I got a little wound up…the phone…I dropped it and then it hit the wall…um…"

"Yes, I heard the commotion. It's so difficult to simply have a normal conversation with you sometimes, Kaos," Amisawa said, though she sounded amused.

"I'm sincerely sorry!" Kaos said, putting down her phone and bowing to it.

"She can't see you bowing," Koyume whispered.

Kaos picked up her phone again. Amisawa was still speaking. "It's alright. I understand that you're excited. If you'd calm down some, I'd like to share a bit about the ranking as well as some of the specific comments on _The Stars Aligned_."

Kaos took a deep breath. This was her moment. She needed to stop freaking out and enjoy it. To keep herself from dropping her phone again, she put Amisawa on speaker and set her phone down on the table in front of her. It was okay if Koyume and the housemother heard this too.

"Okay, I'm calm now," Kaos said.

"Do you promise? You can call me back when you are if you're not."

"Yes!" Kaos cried. "I'm super-calm!" Beside her, Koyume chuckled and gave Kaos a pat on the head.

Amisawa sighed. "Alright, let's start over. Please listen carefully. And don't drop your phone again."

"I won't! It's not even in my hands!"

"Okay, then. First of all, congratulations on the ranking. That you achieved it was no accident. It was good, and I expected you to do well, but seeing _The Stars Aligned_ at number two made me extremely proud of you."

"T-Thank you!"

"I should add that you only missed ranking first by a dozen points," Amisawa continued. "And in terms of quality percentage, you were almost the same as the manga that finished first. You also came ahead of other manga series that are already serialized."

"R-Really?" Kaos was even more surprised. Koyume threw her arms around her, hugged her tightly, and whispered "Way to go!" in her ear.

"Yes, really," Amisawa said. "Now, here's the caveat. _The Stars Aligned_ is new, so you did have a bit of an advantage there. It was something readers hadn't seen before, and it took them by surprise. Do you know what this means, Kaos?"

"W-What does that mean?"

"You won't have that advantage next time, so Chapter Two has to be even better than Chapter One. I'd like to see it at least score second in the ranking again, but preferably first. I realize that's an enormous amount of pressure, but in order to get _The Stars Aligned_ serialized, that's what you'll need to do."

"I see…"

"On the plus side, a number of readers have indicated that they're looking forward to Chapter Two. They want it to continue. So, that will help you some. Deliver something strong, score well again in the rankings next month, and then we'll discussing serialization. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes," Kaos said. Amisawa hadn't been kidding before. The work would only get harder. She was elated at how well the debut of _The Stars Aligned_ had done, but she couldn't just coast on that. At the same time, it was a nerve-wracking situation. Now she really did have to catch lightning in a bottle twice.

"You've come a long way, Kaos," Amisawa said. "I know I keep saying that, but it's true. At the same time, there's a still long way to go. In order to keep this momentum going, you have to constantly be better than you are. If I sound stern, it's because I'm pulling so strongly for you to succeed."

This was almost starting to sound like the sort of motivational speech Tsubasa would deliver. Kaos wasn't used to hearing it from her editor. Usually, it was just a litany of things wrong with what she had submitted.

But Amisawa wanted her to succeed. She had said so herself. Everyone wanted Kaos to succeed. She couldn't let them down. A little voice kept whispering in the back of her mind that she would do just that, but she told it to be quiet. She didn't need that right now.

"Alright," Amisawa continued. "Now, let me read you off a few of the reader comments. Tomorrow, when we meet, we can parse out some of the generous praise you've received and figure out ways to improve for part two. But for now, I really just want you to hear what the readers wrote. The comments are glowing praise. Okay, first…"

Kaos listened attentively as Amisawa read off some of the compliments _The Stars Aligned_ had garnered from readers. With each one, she felt lighter and lighter and that her heart might burst at any moment.

* * *

Kaos was still on cloud nine when she returned to the dorm from her meeting with Amisawa the next morning. It was a wonderful feeling, returning to the dorm like this, so much better than coming back after having another storyline rejected and having to start over.

As she reached the upper hall where her room was, she noticed both the housemother and Ruki standing in the hallway outside of her door, apparently listening to the indistinct conversation that was taking place inside of it. As Kaos drew closer, Ruki put her finger to her lips and pointed out the door. Kaos stood next to her, and she could hear Koyume and Tsubasa talking inside her room.

"Oh, this is so embarrassing…I don't know how to start…" she heard Koyume say.

"Whatever you have to say, don't feel embarrassed," Tsubasa said. "Really, you know you can tell me anything. Are you having trouble with your manga? I'm always happy to help."

"No, no, this isn't about manga," Koyume said. "But thank you. And thanks for telling me I can say anything to you, Tsubasa. I feel so comfortable around you."

"Likewise, Koyume," Tsubasa said. "So, what is it you wanted to tell me?"

"I…I want us to be more than friends, Tsubasa. You and me, I mean."

Kaos's eyes widened. Ruki covered her mouth with both hands, and the housemother grinned. There was a brief pause and a bit of silence.

Finally, Tsubasa spoke. "I thought we were already more than friends, Koyume."

"W-What?!" Koyume said. "We already were and you didn't tell me?!"

"I figured we were at the point where it went without saying," Tsubasa said.

"Well…that is…no, someone has to say it! Otherwise, how can it be?"

"If a fire's burning, it's still burning whether or not anyone says it is."

"Oh, Tsubasa," Koyume cooed. "That's so romantic!"

"You think so? Thanks. I'm using that line in my next story arc."

"So…are we a couple then?"

"I'd say we are," Tsubasa said.

"Ooh, we're really a couple!" Koyume was practically squealing. "I'm so happy! I want to tell someone! We have to tell everyone!"

Tsubasa chuckled. "Who are you going to tell besides Ruki and Kaos?"

"Well, the housemother…oh! And my mother! I'm sure she'll be happy for me."

"Yeah, I'm sure the housemother will be happy. And I'm glad your mom will be too." Tsubasa sighed. "I wish I could tell my parents."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Tsubasa!" Koyume said. "I didn't mean to bring you down!"

"It's alright, Koyume. It's my problem. I'll deal with it."

Kaos felt the housemother pull on her arm. She turned around, and the housemother leaned down, pulling both her and Ruki close.

"We ought to leave them alone for now."

Kaos and Ruki both nodded. Ruki gestured to Kaos, and the two of them made for Ruki and Tsubasa's room. It would at least be empty at the moment (maybe for a while, Kaos figured).

"It's about time those two go together," Ruki said, sitting down in her desk chair.

Kaos nodded. "Eheheh. It's so nice…"

"It makes me a little jealous though," Ruki said.

Jealous? Was Ruki in love with Tsubasa? Or Koyume? Kaos couldn't just ask that though.

"J-Jealous?" she asked nervously.

"Well, more like envious," Ruki said. "Of course, I'm ecstatic for them, but seeing happy couples has always been rough for me. You know that."

Kaos thought back to Christmas and the troubles Ruki had then.

"Well, don't worry, Ruki," Kaos said. "I'm always here for you!"

"Thank you, Kaos."

Kaos might have said more, but then her phone buzzed and dinged. She recognized the tone she had set up especially for Amisawa. She opened the message, saw what her editor had sent her, and smiled.

"You look happy," Ruki said. "I guess that was something good?"

"Yes!" Kaos said. "Amisawa sent me a full file with all the reader responses on my survey, along with some additional messages that people sent in. It's like…it's like I'm finally receiving fan mail."

"That's so nice, Kaos," Ruki said. "May I see?"

Kaos opened the file on her phone and showed the glowing praise and comments she had gotten from readers. Ruki smiled but then a questioning look fell over her face.

"So, your editor is just able to send this to your phone?" she asked.

"Yep!" Kaos said. "And she can add notes to it as well that I can read, things to many specific readers noticed or complimented. I have a special document app for it."

"You…you can do all this on your phone?" Ruki sounded a little bewildered. She took out her phone, an old flip model. "Mine doesn't do anything like that."

"Well, your phone is kind of old, Ruki," Kaos said. "I mean, it can make calls and send some basic emails…but that's probably all, I think?" Fearing she had suddenly insulted Ruki, she quickly added, "Um, but if that works for you, that's all that matters, of course!"

"Remember what I said about getting a fancier phone?" Ruki said. "I want to go and do that."

"Right now?" Kaos asked.

"I guess it's as good a time as any. I mean-"

"Ruki! Kaos!"

Koyume and Tsubasa were standing at the door. Koyume was wearing the same bright smile that Kaos associated with her being happy about Tsubasa. And Tsubasa's face wasn't expressionless for once. She was actually slightly smiling.

"We have an announcement to make," Koyume said.

"What is it?" Kaos asked. She figured she knew what was coming, but figured it polite to ask anyway.

"We're a couple!" Koyume said. "Tsubasa and me, that is."

"Congratulations," Ruki said. "I figured you two had been for a while, but it's nice that it's official."

"See? Told you." Tsubasa said to Koyume. She giggled.

"Eheheh, congratulations," Kaos said, smiling giddily at them. "It's really…wonderful."

"Now you can do all the things that couples do," Ruki said.

Koyume's eyes widened, and she turned a little red. " _All_ the things? Coming from Ruki, that suggestion is…well…"

"Not like that!" Ruki said. "I mean, go on dates, hold hands, kiss, and also…um…" As Ruki trailed off, Kaos wondered if she was thinking about lewd things again.

"I mean only wholesome things!" Ruki said, putting her hands to her ears. "Yes, only good, wholesome things!"

"Maybe we should talk about something else," Tsubasa suggested. She had turned a little red as well.

Kaos was happy to save Ruki from more potential awkwardness. "Ruki is interested in buying a new cell phone!"

* * *

I can't believe Ruki's actually going to buy a new phone," Tsubasa said. "Kaos, you're going to be responsible for showing her how to use everything on it. I did that for her old phone, and I'm not doing it again."

When they had entered the store to buy Ruki's new phone, she had first been overwhelmed by the selection, not knowing what to take. It fell to Kaos, once again, to take on a teacher role with Ruki. Not that she minded – it was again a great reversal. She could pay Ruki back some for all of her help. Plus, Ruki was special to her. Koyume and Tsubasa were her dear friends, and she loved them, but once again, there was something else there with Ruki.

After a lot of searching and advice from Kaos, Ruki finally selected a phone. At first, she couldn't even do anything with it. Kaos had to show her how to dial it. After that, she left Ruki to play with it. Suddenly, Kaos's own phone rang. It was Ruki.

"Hi, Kaos!" Ruki said next to her.

"Ruki!" Kaos hung up her phone. She laughed. "You don't have to call me when you're right next to me."

"But I wanted you to be my first!" Ruki said.

"Your…your first?" Kaos asked. There went Ruki making something sound kind of lewd again. Kaos was slightly amused.

"Not like that!" Ruki said.

"Oh, Tsubasa wasn't my first," Koyume said. She sounded disappointed.

"That…might not be entirely accurate depending on what definition you're thinking of," Ruki said slowly.

"Huh?" Koyume tilted her head. "I was talking about the list of people on my phone. What were you talking about, Ruki?"

"Uh, nothing!" Ruki said, waving her hands as though surrendering. "Nothing whatsoever!"

"That aside," Tsubasa said. "Now that Ruki has actually joined the modern age, she should be able to join us in chats and such when we're not together."

"Like when we're at our homes?" Kaos asked.

"Yes." Tsubasa's face suddenly turned dark. "Like when we're…at our homes."

"It's okay," Koyume said, taking Tsubasa's hand. "I know that's a difficult topic for you. Why don't you come and live with me from now on?"

"Can I?" Tsubasa asked.

"I'd love it if you did!" Koyume said. "W-We…could share a room. I mean, if you wanted."

"Kaos," Ruki whispered. "Let's give them a moment."

Kaos nodded at Ruki, and the two of them stepped over to a display of tablets. Kaos looked over at Tsubasa and Koyume, still holding each other hands and talking softly, then turned back to Ruki.

"They're so lovey-dovey," Ruki commented.

"I know!" Kaos exclaimed, smiling. "Isn't it so splendid? I could just watch them all day..."

"I see," Ruki said, chuckling. "Kaos…I…um…wanted to…"

"Yes, Ruki?"

"What I'm trying to say is…" Ruki paused. She was a little red.

Kaos didn't reply and tilted her head.

"Kaos," Ruki finally said, holding up her new phone. "Can you show me how to work the camera on this?"

"Sure," Kaos said. Was Ruki embarrassed about that? Or was it something else? Well, that didn't matter at the moment. Kaos took Ruki's phone from her and showed her how to use the touchscreen on it. With a little work and some patience on Kaos's part, Ruki finally managed to work the camera on her phone. Hopefully, she wouldn't require a refresher lesson (though Kaos would have been happy to provide that too).

"So!" Kaos said. "What do you want to take a picture of?"

"I'd like to take a picture of, you know, us."

"Oh!" Kaos said. "Then, once Koyume and Tsubasa are back, we can take a lovely group picture!"

"Well, I'd like to do that too," Ruki said. "But that's second. What I meant was that I wanted to take a picture of you and me together."

"Alright. Let's do that, then. The first picture of us on Ruki's new phone!"

Kaos stood in very close to Ruki, who awkwardly held up her phone up in front of them. It took a few tries, but Ruki was finally able to take a good picture of the two of them together. Ruki beamed at a picture of the two of them smiling. Kaos was glad for a photo of herself where she wasn't crying and didn't look ridiculous.

"Kaos," Ruki said. "I have one more request. I want to set this picture as my screen."

"You mean your wallpaper?"

"Yes," I'd like it way better than this plain, solid background. Will you show me how?"

Kaos did just that. When she was finished, Ruki wrapped her arms around her. "Thank you. You're a really sweet, smart, and cute girl, Kaos."

"T-Thank you, Ruki," Kaos said. Now she was certain that she was the one turning red. The funny feeling came back, the feeling that Ruki was somehow more special to her than Koyume and Tsubasa. An odd thought occurred to her, and Kaos wondered if what she felt for Ruki was the same thing that Koyume and Tsubasa felt for each other.

A sudden mix of nerves and excitement seized her. She clenched up and shook.

"Something wrong, Kaos?" Ruki asked, letting her go.

"N-No!" Kaos said. "N-Not at all!"

Back at the dorm in the evening, Kaos continued her work on the second chapter of _The Stars Aligned_. She felt like it was as good as the first chapter, maybe even a little better. That she'd likely be able to live up to what Amisawa had requested of her made her happy and hopeful.

At the same time, there was something else she couldn't get off her mind. Well, someone else: Ruki. Kaos thought about Koyume's confession to Tsubasa. Could she say something like that to Ruki?

She definitely felt _that_ way about Ruki. There was no question about that. Did Ruki feel the same way? Kaos suspected she probably did, but she wasn't sure. There was the fact that Ruki talked about how much she enjoyed being around Kaos and then setting her phone picture to the two of them.

Those were definitely hints, sure, but they weren't the same as a confession. But maybe Kaos was better off just not waiting for Ruki. Maybe Kaos would have to take a risk and be the one to confess.

She had taken a risk the year before in moving into the dorms. She had taken a risk with continuing to draw manga. Maybe now it was time for her take yet another risk.

She knew Tsubasa got a lot of confessions (even if Koyume's feelings were the only ones she had ever returned), but Kaos herself had never received a confession, nor had she given one. How exactly did one go about doing that without sounding silly and foolish?

She wondered if she should practice saying a confession out loud.

That would have been nice, but she couldn't just do that with Koyume in the room. She tried mouthing some words without making a sound. It wasn't the same as actually saying something though. She switched to a blank panel on her tablet, sketched out a quick character that looked like her and then one that looked like Ruki. She then wrote some dialogue above her character.

 _You're amazing and wonderful, and I like you a lot! I'd really like for us to be more than friends._

Smiling a little at the picture, she wrote in some words for the character that represented Ruki.

 _I'd like that too. You're really cute, and I love being with you._

Her drawing was sweet but pointless, she decided. Actually telling Ruki would be different from how it would occur in a manga. Kaos knew what she had just come up with was a bit corny. It was the sort of thing she'd probably have put in her manga at one time. She thought about writing a little love confession subplot into _The Stars Aligned_ but figured it would be better to come up with her own love confession first.

 _My own confession_ , Kaos thought, hugging herself and smiling. It was something she had always wanted to do. And now there was someone she really liked. Really, the setup for it was perfect.

All she needed now was the correct thing to say.


	7. Chapter 7

_**(Author's note: Here's the rewritten version of chapter 7. Sorry if anyone was wondering where it went, but the second half needed to be fixed. Thank you to reader KZO for the sharp eyes.)**_

"This is more excellent work, Kaos. And you're early again as well."

Amisawa peered at Kaos across the table. Despite the constant attacks of nerves, Kaos had come to enjoy these meetings much more. Strong praise beat cold rejection any day of the week.

"Once we have the survey results," Amisawa said. "I'm going to make a strong pitch for The Stars Aligned to be serialized. If the second chapter does as well as the first – and I suspect it will - then it should be a done deal."

Kaos nodded. This was what she had been building up to. Just a little more, and she'd be serialized.

"To make our case ironclad," Amisawa continued. "I'd like you to do something for me, Kaos."

"W-What do I need to do?" Kaos asked. Would she have to make chapter three even better? No, that went without saying. It had to be something else.

"When you submit chapter three, I'd like you to submit chapters four and five as well. That will show the chief editor that you're serious and that you can work quickly and well and are able to handle the pressure of being serialized."

Three chapters at once? The prospect of that was almost overwhelming. Kaos's lips trembled.

"Is that too much, Kaos?" Amisawa asked. "I told you it wouldn't get easier."

"I…I think maybe I can do it."

But Amisawa didn't look convinced. The look on Kaos's face probably said it all.

"I could probably convince them to serialized The Stars Aligned without them, given that I expect the reader survey will be good for chapter two as well," Amisawa said. "But I want to make the strongest case possible."

Kaos nodded weakly. "R-Right…"

"If you can't manage that without the quality suffering, then just focus on making chapter three the best you can," Amisawa said. "Ideally though, we'll have a buffer of good chapters ready to go. And this isn't just for serialization. Once it is serialized, you'll be making a special insert with color pages. So, having the next chapter done will also give you time to focus on that, since it'll need to be done quickly. But we can talk more about that once it's a done deal."

Despite her nerves and the enormity of the task facing her, Kaos still felt excitement bubbling up inside her. Serialization? _Color pages_? All the girls of _The Stars Aligned_ shown in brilliant shades in their own special insert? It was almost too much for her.

Kaos took a deep breath and steadied herself. She nodded smartly. "I…I'll do it. I'll have the chapters ready. And when it's time to make the color pages…I'll do those too. And they'll be my best work."

Amisawa smiled at her. "I'm sure they will be, Kaos. Please keep me up to speed on how your work is going."

"Yes!"

When Kaos arrived back at the dorm after her meeting, however, she thought about just what she committed to. She had three chapters to draw. They had to be great. She had done her best to sound confident to Amisawa, and she felt like maybe she was…but at the same time, it felt like everything could just fall apart at any moment.

She still couldn't help going back and forth on this. Hopefully, getting right down to work would put an end to that.

Still, there was something else that threatened to her concentration away from her work: her newfound (or at least, newly realized) feelings for Ruki.

If she didn't do something about that, this would all overwhelm her, and she'd never be able to get the chapters done. And in order to do something about Ruki, Kaos still needed to tell her how she felt. In order for that to happen, she needed exactly the right words to say. Kaos had run through a number of different things in her head, but none of them felt like they were exactly correct.

 _I have to stay at this until I find the correct words._

"Easier said than done," Kaos said to herself as she entered the dorm. She decided she liked that little joke and noted for use later in her manga.

"So many things in life are," someone said. Kaos looked up and saw that housemother sweeping the hallway.

"Hello!" Kaos said.

"Hello there, Kaos," the housemother said. "Back from a meeting with your editor?"

"Yes!" Kaos said. "And it went well. I I…I might be serialized soon."

"That's wonderful!" The housemother smiled warmly at her. "I'm so happy for you, Kaos."

Kaos was about to thank her when some mewing below her made her look down. Nyaos the cat was pawing at her feet. Kaos reached down and scooped Nyaos up in her arms.

"Looks like someone else is happy for you as well," the housemother said.

Kaos hugged the little white cat. She still had no idea what to say to Ruki, but she at least she felt a little more clear-headed about it. And then suddenly something occurred to her: here before her was someone who might be able to talk her through this.

"H-Housemother," Kaos said. "I…need some advice. Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Kaos. I'm here to help. Is this about manga or something else?"

"Something else. H-How…how…how…" Kaos couldn't get the words out.

"How?"

This was ridiculous. If she couldn't even say out loud how she felt, how would she ever tell Ruki?

"How-do-you-tell-someone-you-like-them?" she said, very quickly. She gasped, as though she had just run a race.

"Ah. This is about Ruki, I assume?"

"Y-Yes! How did you know?"

"Oh, aside from it being very obvious? Well, I've seen this sort of thing before, and I recognize the signs. And I dealt with it some myself."

"Y-You…you liked another girl?"

"Yes, but that's neither here nor there," the housemother said. "We should focus on helping you get through what you're dealing with rather than going over my past. So, let's see. You want to tell Ruki you like her?"

"Y-Yes." Kaos nodded. "I just don't know the correct words to say."

"Well, there are no words that are exactly, objectively right," the housemother said. "I suppose there might be some wrong ones, but I imagine you'll avoid those."

"W-What should I say? What are the wrong words?"

"The wrong words would be the ones where you're not being honest," the housemother said. "This sort of situation…well, let me put it this way: it's a little more like drawing manga than answering correctly in school."

"How so?"

"Well, there are lots of different answers, and many of them can be 'right' in their own way. And you're speaking from the heart, so that can both make it easier and harder."

"I...see…" Kaos said though she didn't understand at all.

"Just be honest and be yourself," the housemother said. "You can't go wrong with that."

"Right! I-I'm going to go and tell her right now!" Kaos figured she had to before her courage wore off and she chickened out.

"Good luck," the housemother said.

Kaos made her way upstairs to the residents' rooms and headed for Ruki's. She wasn't sure what she'd do if Tsubasa was there. Maybe she'd just ask Ruki to come with her. And of course, there was the possibility that Ruki wouldn't be in at all.

Luck was on her side, however. When she reached Ruki's room, Kaos saw only Ruki there.

"R-Ruki," Kaos said, peeking in. "H-Hello!"

 _Drat. Why do my nerves have to strike now?_

"Hi, Kaos!" Ruki said, looking up from her work. "Welcome back."

"M-May I come in?"

"Of course."

As Kaos entered Ruki's room and walked over to her desk, Ruki quickly covered whatever it was she working on. That was fine by Kaos – this would be easier if neither of them was distracted. Ruki was wearing the glasses she often wore while working and Kaos felt her nerves calm some. Seeing Ruki in glasses just had that effect on her.

"R-Ruki," Kaos said.

Ruki peered at her the lenses of her glasses. "Yes, Kaos?"

Kaos thought of the housemother's advice. She thought of how Koyume had confessed to Tsubasa. She thought of all the clever things she could say to Ruki.

Unfortunately, none of those words came out.

"You're amazing and wonderful, I like you a lot, and I'd really like for us to be more than friends," Kaos said. She immediately wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. Of all the things she could have said, why had she said _that_?

At first, Ruki's expression didn't change. Then she smiled and actually laughed. Kaos didn't know what to say. Surely, Ruki hadn't taken her confession as a joke.

"Oh, Kaos," she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. It's just…well…"

Kaos didn't say anything. Her lips trembled. Had she messed up and ruined everything?

"I was planning on saying something like that to you!" Ruki said.

"Y-You were?!"

"Yes," Ruki said. She stood up and looked toward her window. "I had it all planned out in my head. I tried to tell you the other day, but the words just wouldn't come out." She turned around and smiled at Kaos. "And now you beat me to it."

"So…you mean you like me?"

"Yeah," Ruki said. "I do. A lot."

"I'm sorry I never told you earlier," Kaos said. She started tearing up. "I didn't make things weird…did I?"

"What? No, not in any way," Ruki said. "I was worried I had. And when I talked with Tsubasa about this, she said I'd probably have to be the one to say something."

"Y-You talked with Tsubasa about us?"

"Yes," Ruki said. She chuckled. "And her other comment was: 'You, Koyume, and even Kaos. You all act like such girls sometimes.'"

Now Kaos laughed. She could picture Tsubasa saying that and not just because Ruki had done a spot-on imitation of her voice.

"I talked with the housemother," Kaos said. "She encouraged me to say something to you."

Ruki laughed again. "I guess people were trying to play matchmaker with us."

"T-That's not a bad thing, right?"

"No," Ruki said. She took a deep breath. "I think we'd have ended up here regardless."

"L-Like it was meant to be!" Kaos exclaimed.

"I think that only happens in manga, Kaos."

"No, it happens in real life too!" She hugged Ruki and pressed her face against her. "Like now!"

Ruki hugged her back. Kaos was so overwhelmed by everything she felt that she actually started to sob.

"Hey now," Ruki said. "Don't cry."

"I'm sorry!" Kaos bawled. "But I'm so happy!"

"Oh, Kaos," Ruki said, stroking her head. "You really never change, do you?"

"Maybe some," Kaos said, sniffing.

"Okay, maybe some," Ruki agreed. "I can't quite see the old Kaos being so honest with me. I'm glad you were though."

"Me too." Kaos looked up at Ruki. "So, what happens now?"

"Well, we stay together," Ruki said. "The two of us." She smiled. "You make me really happy, Kaos."

"Y-You make me really happy too, Ruki," Kaos said. "T-To think someone like you…with someone like me…"

"No, don't talk like that." Ruki embraced her more tightly. "Give yourself more credit."

"Ruki?" Kaos asked, looking up at her nervously.

"You're a really special girl, Kaos…" Ruki closed her eyes and leaned in toward her. Was she going to kiss Kaos? Unsure, Kaos closed her eyes and tried standing on her toes and leaning up toward Ruki.

Bonk!

The girls' foreheads hit each other, and they broke up apart.

"Ow!" Kaos said, rubbing her head. "That really hurt…"

"It really did," Ruki said. "Um…we might have to work on that part."

"P-Probably…I don't think it's supposed to happen like that."

Ruki laughed, and soon Kaos joined in. Okay, so it wasn't as romantic as something that might have happened in Koyume's manga. But it was something she and Ruki shared. That made it special.

"Right…Ruki, may I work in your room for a while?" Kaos asked after they had calmed down some.

"Of course," Ruki said. "Working on the next manga chapter?"

"The next few," Kaos said, telling Ruki about Amisawa's directive.

"I see," Ruki said when she had finished. "Well, if you need any help with your manuscripts, please let me know."

"I will," Kaos said. "It would give me more of a chance to see Ruki in her glasses, after all…"

"Oh, so that's your angle?" Ruki said, adjusting her glasses. "You don't have to have me working on manga if that's what you want to see."

"Eheheh." Kaos pressed her hands together silently in prayer.

"Hey!" Ruki laughed. "Stop thanking God!"

* * *

Now that she and Ruki were together, Kaos found that she was much better able to focus on her work. She hadn't realized how much she had been stressing out until some of the stress was actually gone. She thought now that she might actually have a shot at doing what Amisawa had asked of her.

She got to spend some time with Ruki, though not as much as she would have liked. Thus, she treasured the moments they found together. Maybe during summer, there would time for more. Having a girlfriend, however, still left a happy feeling in her tummy all the same. If she was feeling too stressed, all she had to do was gaze at Ruki, and she felt a little better.

Koyume and Tsubasa seemed amused by the two of them dating (especially Tsubasa), but also supported them. While Kaos hadn't expected anything different from her friends, she was still grateful. And she supported them in turn, of course.

Deadlines, however, continued to loom over all four them, leaving little time for romance.

So, there they were one evening, the four of them working together, just like so many other times. While they occasionally worked as assistants for each other, each girl worked solely on her own manga. They were sitting around the table in Kaos and Koyume's room, the only sound the scratching of pens and the occasional shuffling of paper.

 _Everyone is so focused. Granted, we all usually are, but particularly so today._

This went on for some time. Kaos finished drawing a panel then looked up. Ruki, Koyume, and Tsubasa were all busy at work. She glanced over at the clock, noted that it was very late (somehow, she had become better at handling these late nights), then turned back to everyone else.

"It's so quiet," she said, practically whispering. She felt wary about raising her voice any louder.

Ruki looked up at Kaos and smiled at her. "It really is. I guess we all have so much to do."

"Sometimes peace and tranquility are necessary to facilitate creativity and enhance production," Tsubasa said. "Well, that and a lack of distractions and interruptions."

"If you feel that way, maybe you should go back to our room and work there by yourself," Ruki said.

"Quiet can be nice," Tsubasa said, laying down her pen and looking up from her work. "But not so much solitude. Just being around you three helps me work better." Kaos smiled at her. She felt the same way.

"Kaos has a point though," Koyume said. She looked up as well. Now everyone had stopped working. "We're usually a little more talkative."

"So what's different about today?" Kaos wondered.

Tsubasa shrugged. "Maybe we're all getting old."

"Yes, you will hit the ancient age of seventeen this year, won't you, Tsubasa?" Ruki said teasingly.

"As will all of us," Tsubasa said. She scratched her chin. "Where have all the days gone? What has time stolen from me?"

"Stop talking like an old lady," Ruki said, throwing an eraser at her.

Koyume giggled. "It's definitely livelier now."

"Though all of us have ceased working," Tsubasa pointed out.

"I know!" Koyume said from Kaos's left. "We should each share some of what we've done. That'll keep it from getting too quiet in here and keep us on track to boot."

"That sounds like fun," Tsubasa said. "We could even offer critiques."

"C-Critiques?" Kaos said. She was nervous enough about her own work. How in the world would she criticize others'?

"Yes," Tsubasa said. "It's good to hear others' thoughts from time to time, especially those who primarily work outside of your genre."

Kaos could see that. The type of manga each girl did was quite different. At the same, Kaos wondered about talking with a manga artist who drew light-hearted comedy like she did. What would they be like?

"I'm game," Ruki said. She shuffled through her work. "Uh, that is, once I find a page I'm okay showing…"

"I'll go first while Ruki looks, then!" Koyume declared. She produced a page from her storyboard and handed it to Kaos. "Here, have your say, Kaos and then pass it along."

Kaos studied the page, showing a boy (who resembled Tsubasa, of course) and a girl holding hands while walking through a park. Below that, there was a panel of them gazing at each other intently.

"Um…" Kaos said. "Well, the girl is cute. The boy is handsome. The scenery is pretty. And it definitely looks like they're in love."

"That's it?" Koyume asked, tilting her head.

"Yes," Kaos said, passing the paper on to Tsubasa. What else should she have said? She had no idea what she was doing.

"The work on the characters is good," Tsubasa said after studying the page. "But your background needs to be a little more detailed in order to fully bring out what you're going for. Also, there's a minor inconsistency between these two panels. See?"

Now Kaos saw what she should have said. She made a mental note for the next time.

"Oh, I'll definitely fix that!" Koyume said.

"If you really wanted to make it exciting, you could add a battle," Tsubasa said.

"A…a battle?" Koyume asked uncertainly.

"You know, make it more action-packed," Tsubasa said. "Have them fight for love."

"It's not really that sort of scene, though. I don't think that would work."

"Of course not," Tsubasa said. "I was seeing if you'd stay to true to form or if you'd simply accept any suggestion. Good for you, Koyume."

Koyume blushed. "T-Thank you, Tsubasa."

Tsubasa smiled and then passed the paged to Ruki. "Your turn."

Ruki looked over Koyume's work. She then leaned very close to Kaos and said, "Kaos, I want you and me to do this."

"What, analyze each other's manga?" Kaos asked quietly.

"No! I mean what this couple is doing."

"Oh! Sure, that would be nice."

"Why are you two whispering?" Tsubasa asked. "We can hear you, you know."

"You should definitely go to the park and hold hands!" Koyume said.

"Um…we're fine without the unsolicited advice, thank you!" Ruki said.

"Koyume's just trying to help," Tsubasa said. "Besides, the other day, before you and Kaos started dating, you came to me all bent out of shape, asking for-"

"There's no need to bring that up!" Ruki said, cutting her off. "And that was solicited, so it's very different from the current situation!"

"W-we might be going off on a tangent," Kaos said. She figured it was her duty to jump in and rescue her girlfriend.

"You're right, Kaos," Koyume said. "Well, we'll say that for Ruki's criticism, she likes the scene. Okay, who's next?"

"I'm still not ready," Ruki said, going back to shuffling through her papers.

"I'll go," Tsubasa volunteered. "If we wait on Ruki, we might be here until breakfast. I guess she still hasn't found anything she's comfortable sharing."

"You know how it is, Tsu-chan!" Ruki said, looking a little annoyed.

"All too well. Okay, here's mine." Tsubasa grabbed a page from the stack she had been working on and handed it over to Kaos. "What do you think, Kaos?"

Kaos studied the page. Tsubasa's dark hero was battling some kind of horned monster alongside a heroine. She couldn't say the first thing that came to mind – the heroine looked like Koyume.

She looked for the things Tsubasa had mentioned about Koyume's – but the background here was as exquisitely detailed as the characters, and there were no inconsistencies she could spot. Still, Tsubasa was expecting something from her, so she just said the first few things that came to mind.

"I-It's…very intense," Kaos said. "I can feel the emotions coming from this page. There's a lot of excitement and energy."

"Really?" Tsubasa looked pleased. "I like hearing that my work induces those kinds of feelings in my readers. That's exactly what I was going for."

"The hero and the heroine both look really strong," Kaos said. "Like they're meant to be fighting next to each other. Like…there's no other way in the world it could be than that."

"Even better!" Tsubasa exclaimed. "It's destiny that they're together. It took them some time to meet and become allies, but now they're all the more strengthened as a pair."

"That's so wonderful!" Koyume said, clapping her hands. "And I bet they always want to be together!"

"Definitely."

 _Are we still talking about Tsubasa's characters? Why does it feel like we're describing Tsubasa and Koyume now?_ Kaos couldn't mention that either, however. It didn't really fall into the 'criticism' category. Instead, she passed the page over to Koyume.

"Okay!" Koyume studied the page, then looked up and smiled. "This heroine is really cute!"

Did Koyume not see that the heroine looked exactly like her? It was so weird that Tsubasa and Koyume missed that, especially given Tsubasa's sharp eye for detail. And wasn't that the same thing Kaos had said about Koyume's? Kaos felt a little better about her earlier criticism.

"Thank you, Koyume," Tsubasa said. "Incidentally, she has a sweet tooth."

"Really?" Koyume said. "She's even cuter now!"

"I figured you'd appreciate that."

Koyume and Tsubasa continued this back and forth for some time. Kaos was caught between wondering if they'd ever quit and enjoying the show. Did she and Ruki sound like that? Kaos turned to Ruki, who gave her a sly smile.

When Koyume and Tsubasa had finally finished their part-criticism-part-flirting session, it came time for Ruki to comment on Tsubasa's work. She refused. "I'm not sure I could add anything that Kaos and Koyume haven't already said," Ruki remarked, smirking.

"Alright then," Koyume said. "In that case, Kaos, you're up!"

Kaos pulled a page with a set of four panels from her pile of work. This one would be part of chapter three, but she figured the joke was clear enough without the reader having seen every single thing up until that point. It started off with a simple conversation and ended with a pun. Kaos passed the page over to Ruki first.

Ruki studied the page very closely. Suddenly she burst out laughing. Kaos hoped that was okay – it was supposed to be funny, after all – but she wasn't sure.

"I-Is it alright?" Kaos asked.

"I'm not saying until everyone else sees it," Ruki said. She handed the paper to Tsubasa. "Tsu-chan, you and Koyume take a look."

Tsubasa and Koyume studied the page together. Koyume smiled as she did.

"Oh, that's really cute, Kaos!" Koyume said, happily giggling. "I like it!"

"It's very clever," Tsubasa said, chuckling.

"T-Thanks, everyone," Kaos said. She was more confident in her own work, but hearing others compliment it was still nice.

Though why shouldn't she be confident? She had done well in the reader surveys after all, and probably would again. Right?

"The only thing I can add is that raising this character's hand a little higher while she's making the pun might make the joke land even better," Tsubasa said. "But not too high. Balance in all things."

Kaos nodded and noted that. Any advice from Tsubasa was bound to be good advice.

Ruki's manga would have been next, but Ruki couldn't find anything she felt comfortable sharing. Kaos would have happily read anything she offered – after mentally preparing herself some – but she understood Ruki's feelings on that. Instead, the four girls went back to work, and the silence reigned in the room once more.

Comforted by the mere presence of her girlfriend and two best friends, Kaos lost herself in her work. This continued for some time until she was interrupted by Ruki.

"Hey, Kaos," Ruki whispered, gently nudging Kaos. "Look."

Kaos looked up from her work. "Huh?"

"Over there." Ruki pointed across from her.

Kaos looked over. Tsubasa was leaning back against her bed. Koyume must have, at some point, gotten up and sat down next to her. She was right beside her, her head leaning against Tsubasa's shoulder.

"They look so peaceful," Kaos said, smiling.

"They really do," Ruki said. She got up. "Say, I need to go back to my room and grab something."

Kaos got up as well. "I'll come with you!"

Very quietly, they snuck out of the room and into the hallway. Since it was so late, Kaos doubted anyone else would be awake. Ahead of them, however, Kaos saw a silhouette of someone walking down the hallway. She recognized the long, wavy hair and the white dress – it was Fuura. Kaos was about to say something when Ruki put a hand on her shoulder and a finger to her lips. Kaos wasn't sure why, but she nodded in understanding.

Silently, Ruki snuck up behind Fuura and said one word.

"Boo."

"AH!" Startled, Fuura screamed and ran off down the hallway in the direction of her room, waving her arms as she did. Was she faking it (happy to be indulged, yet again), or had Ruki actually frightened her? Kaos supposed that didn't matter too much.

"Ah, that was good," Ruki said, chuckling. "I've been wanting to get her back for a long time."

"I-I hope she's alright," Kaos said, though Fuura had also scared her a number of times.

"I'm sure she's fine," Ruki said. "That's her favorite thing, isn't it? Scares? She's just more used to being the one who pulls the spooks rather than the one who's being spooked."

Kaos couldn't really argue with that. When they reached Ruki's room, Ruki dug around in a desk drawer looking for whatever it was she had come for. Before taking anything, however, she turned back around and faced Kaos, looking thoughtful.

"Kaos," Ruki said. "I've been thinking. I'm sorry we haven't had a real date yet. Koyume and Tsubasa have been on a bunch. I'd…well, I'd like to do that too."

"T-That makes two of us," Kaos said. "But, it's understandable. We're both really right busy now…" Ironically, Kaos had far less time to spend with Ruki than she would have if they had gotten together several months prior. Ruki, of course, was always busy.

"Still," Ruki said. "Sometime, we'll do something, just you and me. I liked Koyume's idea. Maybe we'll go to the park, just like that scene she drew, and be like a real couple."

"That would be nice," Kaos said. It might have been a little cliché, but really doing anything with Ruki would be okay. "I-I think we're already a real couple though."

"Yeah, we are," Ruki said. "I just want to do 'couple' things. Is there anything special you'd like to do, Kaos?"

"I'm okay with anything."

"You can speak up, you know. Come on, there must be things that you'd like to do."

"Okay…" Kaos thought for a moment. "We could always go to Akihabara. I mean, if you're okay with that." She felt a little silly suggesting that, but if she couldn't be herself in front of Ruki, then who?

Ruki laughed. "I should have thought of that. Alright, the next school holiday, we'll go there."

"Really?" Kaos said excitedly. Going there was fun enough, but with Ruki too? And making it a date? Honestly, Kaos couldn't think of a better day. Thinking of Akihabara reminded Kaos of something else. "There's also a movie coming out that I want to see…it's an OVA of an anime series… _Pretty Idol Kana_. It, um, looks like it'll be really good."

"I don't really know anything about that series," Ruki said. "But I'll take your word for it. By all means, let's see that."

"I think you're really like it!" Kaos said, feeling even more excited. She had raised her voice some. "T-The anime left some things hanging, so hopefully they'll be resolved…I-I'll explain everything that's happened so that you can keep up!"

Ruki chuckled. "Oh, Kaos…"

"W-What?" Kaos asked, suddenly feeling nervous. Had she gone too far? "I'm sorry! I...just get all excited when talking about some of this stuff…"

"There's no need to apologize," Ruki said. "I think it's cute. And you're definitely passionate about the genre you work in, nobody can deny that. Remember when Tsu-chan said the same thing about Fuura?"

Kaos nodded.

"I think you're a bit like Fuura in that regard," Ruki said. She paused then added, "And I'd much rather deal with your way of showing your dedication to your chosen medium than hers."

Kaos took Ruki's hands. "Thanks, Ruki. I think we all are in our own way. Not just Fuura and me, but also Tsubasa and Koyume…and even you."

Kaos grinned at her, one little tooth showing. It was teasing, but she couldn't help it.

"Me?" Ruki suddenly turned red. "What are you implying? Wait, no I'm not…I'm not like _that!_ "

"Sure you are," Kaos said happily. "Ruki is-"

Ruki yanked Kaos close to her and held her tightly.

"Kaos," she said. "Don't say another word, you little..."

"Eheheh," Kaos said, giggling. True, she probably didn't need to tease Ruki to get this sort of affection from her. But she still enjoyed it.

"Don't laugh about it!" Ruki exclaimed. She sighed. "Are you finished now?"

Kaos nodded and laid her head against Ruki's shoulder. There was nothing else that needed to be said anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

"And that's another set of panels done, Kaos. I think we're set to move on."

Ruki showed Kaos what she had done, and Kaos nodded in approval. She was almost finished with all three chapters of _The Stars Aligned_ that she had planned to turn in. While a little doubt still poked its head out of its hole, Kaos had noticed it finally become quieter. She was doing this, and would hopefully soon be serialized.

Once again, the survey results for _The Stars Aligned_ had been excellent. The number of votes she had gotten had gone up, as did her quality percentage. She had finished second (again, by only a few votes), but her quality percentage, Amisawa had pointed out to her, was actually a little higher than the manga that finished first. That, she insisted, was a very good thing.

Kaos was glad for that. She was a little disappointed that she hadn't finished first but told herself it was still a reminder of how far she had come (two consecutive months of being second in the reader surveys beat being at the bottom) and that there was always room for her improve.

To that end, Ruki had offered to help her with finishing her manuscripts. Kaos was unsure at first but then accepted her offer. Ruki cared for her and wanted her to keep doing well. She had developed a good sense for taking care of the little details that Kaos thought really spiced up _The Stars Aligned_ and made it shine.

Plus, there was something special about working Ruki now. Kaos couldn't quite put her finger on it, but just like being with Ruki had come to feel as natural as breathing to her, working alongside her had come to feel like that as well. Was this love? It wasn't quite like it was in Koyume's manga – or in the manga that Ruki drew that Kaos had peeked in – but that was okay. It was her 'story' and her love that she and Ruki alone shared. Still, she wanted to make sure she held on to it. She didn't want to mess up and end her 'story' badly.

Originally, Tsubasa and Koyume had offered to help Kaos with her manuscripts as well. However, Kaos's hard deadline coincided with Tsubasa's hard deadline – her series, _The Dark Hero's Revenge Story_ , had a small spin-off that was being featured. So, Tsubasa was hard at work on that with Koyume assisting her. All in all, it was an interesting reverse of the first time the four of them had worked together, with Koyume and Kaos assisting Tsubasa.

"Sounds you two are making good progress over there," Koyume said. "We're down to the last two pages over here."

"You two work so fast," Kaos said. "It's impressive."

"Koyume somehow understands Tsubasa's system perfectly," Ruki said. "But then, she has from the start."

"I think we're just on the same wavelength," Koyume said. "She's helped me, so now I can help her keep things going smoothly."

"It does seem like your manga has picked up quite over the past year, Tsu-chan," Ruki remarked.

"It has!" Koyume exclaimed. "Plus, they're interested in making an anime out of it!"

"An anime?" Kaos asked. This was the first she had heard about it. "That's amazing!"

"Thank you," Tsubasa said. "Though it's hardly a done deal. It's simply something that's been brought up. It'll probably be some time before that happens."

"Still," Kaos said. "That it's even being talked about…" She turned to Ruki. "Would you want your work made into an anime, Ruki?"

"Mine?" Ruki turned red. "Goodness, no. Everyone already gets to see it in print form. I can't imagine it all being out there in animated form."

"But I bet it would be great!" Kaos said.

"No, no, no!" Ruki said, burying her face in her hands. "No anime series for my work!"

"One would think you'd have gotten over this complex by now," Tsubasa said.

"I'll never get over it!"

"It's alright," Kaos said, patting Ruki's arm. "What about you, Koyume?"

"Oh, I'd certainly like that," Koyume said. "But I haven't really made anything substantial and popular enough to be adapted into an anime."

"Kaos's series seems like it might make a suitable anime in the future," Tsubasa remarked.

"That's true," Ruki said, looking back up. "Some of those types of series can become pretty popular too, right?"

"I-I don't know," Kaos said. She liked the idea, and while she was close to being serialized, she still wasn't even there yet. "I have a long way to go before I could ever think about anything like that."

"Right," Ruki said, smiling at her. "One step at a time, after all."

"Though I wonder," Kaos said. "If I ever had a series made into an anime…would I get to visit the recording studio and meet all the cute voice actresses?" She sighed happily, imaging herself sitting in a front of a recording booth watching girls record all the lines she had written. "Eheheh..."

"Careful there, Kaos," Tsubasa said without looking up. "You'll make Ruki jealous."

"Ah!" Kaos broke out of her fantasy and quickly turned to Ruki. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! Ruki is the only cute girl for me, always and forever!"

"It's okay, Kaos," Ruki said, chuckling. "Calm down. I know you didn't mean anything by it."

"Ah, yes," Kaos said. "No more thinking about that. It's Tsubasa's series that will be an anime, after all."

"If it's going to happen, I need to move the current arc along a little more and give the heroine more character development so that all that can be included," Tsubasa said.

"And that will require another volume!" Koyume said.

Ruki chuckled. "It almost sounds like you're Tsu-chan's acting editor now, Koyume."

"Oh, I would never dream of that!" Koyume said, looking scandalized. "I'm simply following Tsubasa's directive."

"Right," Tsubasa said. "Like Koyume said earlier, we're just on the same wavelength."

"I see," Kaos said. Koyume and Tsubasa seemed to understand each other well. Maybe she and Ruki could grow to be like that too.

The next day, Kaos found a chance to test this. After school, she and Ruki stopped by the same café that the housemother had sent them to visit. Since Koyume and Tsubasa were off at meetings, it was just the two of them. So, it felt more like a real date to Kaos and gave them a chance to do a 'couple' thing, just like Ruki wanted. At the same time, Kaos felt a little nervous. She still didn't want to mess up what she had going with Ruki, after all.

When Ruki ordered coffee, Kaos wondered if she should order the same thing. That would also make her look more 'adult' after all. And she wanted her and Ruki to be on the same wavelength, just like Koyume and Tsubasa were. So, Kaos followed suit and ordered plain black coffee.

"I didn't know you liked coffee, Kaos," Ruki said as they sat at a table and waited for their order to be brought over. "I thought you'd have gotten milk tea or juice or some such."

"I-I like coffee," Kaos insisted. "Just like you, Ruki!"

"Alright," Ruki said.

When the waitress brought over their order, however, Kaos suddenly felt a little unsure. As Ruki sipped her coffee, Kaos stared at the cup of black liquid that had been set down in front of her. Her first thought was that it looked kind of like motor oil. Well, that didn't matter. She had to prove to Ruki that she was also mature and that they had this in common. Coffee couldn't be _that_ different from hot tea, right? Imitating her girlfriend, Kaos picked up the cup and slowly sipped from it.

The taste was completely different from what she was expecting. The smell of the coffee – rich, pleasant and of roasted beans – belied the horrible taste the hit her mouth when she drank it. Kaos scrunched up her face.

 _It's so bitter! How can anyone drink this?_

"Are you okay, Kaos?" Ruki asked, setting down her own cup. "It's really hot, so don't drink it too fast. You'll burn your mouth."

With difficulty, Kaos forced herself to swallow the coffee. She shuddered as it went down.

"It's…good," Kaos managed to say.

"You don't look like you're enjoying it," Ruki said, now looking concerned. "Maybe you should put something in your coffee, milk or sugar or some such. This blend they're serving is pretty strong."

"N-No!" Kaos said. "I…I can drink it plain just like Ruki does."

"Kaos," Ruki said. "If you don't like it, you shouldn't push yourself. You don't have to drink it like me or even drink it at all."

"I-I can drink it. Really." She lifted up her cup again, but couldn't summon the willpower to put it to her lips. The horrible taste was still in her mouth. And it seemed like her one sip had barely lowered the level of coffee in the cup. There was still so much of it to drink.

"Why are you pushing yourself to when you obviously don't want to?" Ruki asked.

"I just…" Kaos couldn't lie to Ruki. She set the cup down. "I want to be on the same wavelength as you."

"The same wavelength?"

"Yes, just like Koyume and Tsubasa are with each other."

"I see." Ruki smiled at her. "Kaos, we don't have to be like them. They do their own thing. You and I do ours."

"I-I'm sorry," Kaos said, tearing up. She knew she was acting silly and foolish, but couldn't help it. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"You were thinking we have to be alike since we're dating," Ruki said, putting her hand over Kaos. "But we don't have to be like that, especially if involves doing something you dislike. Also, we don't have to like the exact same things, especially when it comes to food."

"Thanks, Ruki," Kaos said.

"I'll do something about your coffee, Kaos." Ruki got up and took Kaos's coffee cup with her. Kaos was alone with her thoughts for a moment. She felt like she had a fool of herself in front of Ruki, but at least Ruki was forgiving and patient. Still, this was not the way she wanted their date to go. She looked down at the table, and when she looked back up, Ruki had returned with her coffee.

"Here," she said, setting the cup back down in front of Kaos. The coffee was now a medium brown instead of black, and there was a bit of white stuff floating around the top. "I had them add some sugar, milk, chocolate, caramel, and cream for you. I imagine this concoction is more to Koyume's taste, but I think you'll enjoy it."

"T-Thank you," Kaos said. She picked up the cup and nervously sipped it while Ruki sat down. The taste was delicious – it was sweet now instead of bitter. She looked up at Ruki. "It's good!"

"I figured you'd like it better that way," Ruki said. "Next time, Kaos, order what you enjoy. You don't have to do something just because I'm doing it."

"I-I know," Kaos said. "But I want things between us to go well." She stared down at her sweetened coffee. "I've never dated anyone before, so I don't really know what I'm doing."

Ruki chuckled. "This is all new to me too, Kaos. But I think that's part of the fun of it –we figure things as we go along. And really, what better person is there to figure things out with than you?"

"Y-You mean that?" Kaos asked.

"Of course I do," Ruki said.

"E-Even when I screw up?"

"You haven't screwed up, Kaos, no matter what you think. You make me really happy, and I'm glad we're dating."

Kaos's feelings were now definitely on the rebound. She reached across the table and took Ruki's hand, just as Ruki had done with hers. "I'm glad too, Ruki."

Ruki looked at her and suddenly chuckled. "Kaos, you've got cream on your face."

Kaos raised her hands up, but Ruki stopped her. Before Kaos could say anything Ruki reached across the table and dabbed the cream off of Kaos's cheek with her finger. She then licked the end of her finger and smiled. "Good."

Now Kaos was sure that she herself was red. Aside from sharing an indirect kiss, Ruki just made it look so…mesmeric.

"Eheheh," Kaos said, happily giggling.

"Now there's a happy face," Ruki said flirtatiously.

Kaos didn't reply. There was no need, and she wanted to make sure to etch this moment into her memory.

* * *

When Kaos arrived at the Bunhousha office the next day for her meeting with Amisawa and to turn in her manuscripts, she was surprised to find that her editor wasn't waiting for her. That was strange. Amisawa was pretty sharp about punctual. Kaos suddenly worried that something bad happened to her. What if she was sick? What if she had been in an accident? Aside from worrying about who would work with her on her manga, Kaos couldn't stomach anything bad happening to her editor who had stuck with her even when she turned on storyboards that were awful.

"Kaos."

Kaos turned around. Amisawa was standing right behind her.

"Amisawa-san!" Kaos cried, tearing up. "I-I'm so glad that you're okay!"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Amisawa raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know…" Kaos said. "You weren't around, so I thought…"

"I see," Amisawa said. "Well, I'm going to a meeting with the chief editor, so my meeting with you is going to be slightly delayed. I apologize for holding you up."

"I understand," Kaos said. "I…will come back tomorrow."

"What? No," Amisawa said. "You'll just need to wait a bit until I'm finished. Unless you have someplace you direly need to be?"

Kaos shook her head.

"Good," Amisawa said. "Because I think we'll definitely have some things to discuss after my meeting. In the meantime, why don't you wait here?" Amisawa led her into a side office, where Kaos saw two girls sitting across from each other at a table. "There are some others here, so you'll have a chance to talk with more manga artists."

"B-But…" Kaos said. Talking to the others in the dorm was one thing. Talking to artists she didn't know was something else entirely.

"It'll be good for you, Kaos. I'll see you after my meeting." With that, Amisawa headed off, leaving Kaos alone with the two girls she didn't know.

Kaos looked nervously across the room at the two girls. Kaos guessed they were in high school as well, at least the same age as her but probably older. One was flipping through a volume of manga while the other was resting her head in her arms and looked to be fast asleep. The girl who was reading looked up. She smiled at Kaos and waved her over.

"Hi, there!" the girl said. "Here for a meeting with your editor too, I take it?"

"Y-yes," Kaos said nervously as she approached them. "I…um…that is…"

"Whoa, is there an earthquake?" the girl said, apparently noticing Kaos's unease. "You're shaking like crazy." She pointed her thumb at the sleeping girl across from her. "Fortunately, this one sleeps through those."

Kaos's lips trembled. She nothing in reply. The girl's dark hair was done up in a ponytail that definitely made her look cute, and she had large, friendly-looking eyes, but Kaos couldn't help being scared of her. She was a stranger, after all.

"It's alright," the girl said. "Here, please sit down."

Kaos took a seat at the end of the table, with the sleeping girl on her left and the other on her right.

"I'm Yayoi," the girl said. She pointed at the sleeping girl again. "And that's my best friend and partner-in-crime Nene. She's currently participating in one of her many sleep studies."

"N-Nice to meet you," Kaos said. "I'm Kaoruko Moeta, but you can call by my pen name, Kaos." She figured she could use that name with fellow manga artists.

"Kaos? You know that also describes the state of my desk," Yayoi said. "Kaotic."

"I…I see…" Kaos said. She was too nervous to laugh at any jokes.

"No good?" Yayoi said. When Kaos didn't reply, she said "Ah, never mind. I take it you're the same Kaos who draws _The Stars Aligned_?"

"Y-You know it? Y-Yes, that's me."

"Interesting." Yayoi studied her. "I didn't know manga artists in elementary school got published. That's impressive."

"N-No," Kaos said. "I-I'm a second-year in high school."

"Really? Retaining your youthful looks there, huh?" Yayoi said. "Ah, I'm just kidding with you. Still, it's hard to believe you're only a year younger than Nene and me."

So, these two girls were third-years in high school? Kaos didn't recognize either of them from the dorm.

"Nene will definitely want to talk with you," Yayoi said. She reached across the table and tapped the sleeping girl on her head. "Hey, wake up! We've got company."

The girl whose name was apparently Nene slowly opened her eyes, raised up her head, then yawned and smiled at Yayoi.

"Good morning, Yayoi," Nene said.

"Good morning," Yayoi replied. "Did you spot your shadow? I need to know if there's gonna be six more months of winter or not."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Never mind." Yayoi gestured to Kaos. "This is Kaos, the same manga artist who draws _The Stars Aligned_."

"Really?" Nene turned toward Kaos and inclined her head some. "I'm pleased to finally meet you. I'm Nene." Her voice was soft and wavy and almost sounded a little slurred.

"H-Hello…" Kaos said. "Yes, I-I'm Kaos."

"I really like your manga." Nene tilted her head a little. "I never expected its creator to be so young…"

"Ah, no!" Kaos said, waving her hands. "I-I'm a second-year in high school!" That was the second time in five minutes she'd had to explain that. It was a good thing she was used to it.

"Oh, I see," Nene said. "Well, your manga is wonderful. I'm most definitely a fan."

Kaos was a little unsure what else to say. She had read the comments and mail she'd gotten, but she had never actually talked with someone who professed to be a fan of her manga (other than her own mother). How was she supposed to respond?

"I-I'm glad you like it," she finally said. "I've tried to work hard on it."

"That certainly shows," Nene said. "Has it been accepted for serialization now?"

"I-I think so…" Kaos said. "My editor has said there's a good chance for it to be." She wondered if Nene was about to fall back asleep. Her eyes were drooping as if she might suddenly doze off. It somehow made her look really pretty though.

"I'm sure it will be," Nene said. "And I'm looking forward to seeing more of it."

"T-Thank you," Kaos said.

"Yeah, it's so wholesome and sweet that I can read it after dinner instead of eating dessert," Yayoi said.

Nene smiled warmly at Kaos. She was a stark contrast to Yayoi; she wore her light-colored hair down, and her bangs framed her face. "Kaos, don't mind Yayoi. She has a tendency to speak without thinking."

"Maybe, but you think without speaking, Nene," Yayoi said.

"And thus the universe is balanced out," Nene said.

"The universe is smaller and less impressive than I originally thought."

"You're as funny as ever today, Yayoi."

"But looks aren't everything, huh?"

Chuckling, Nene turned back to Kaos and remarked, "As you can see, Yayoi is part manga artist and part stand-up comedian."

"What she means is that my attempts at comedy usually make people stand up and leave," Yayoi explained to Kaos.

Kaos laughed. She couldn't help it. These two were pretty funny.

"There we go," Yayoi said. "Glad to see you lighten up and relax a little. There's no need for such a cute girl to be so strung out."

Kaos did feel a little more relaxed. She decided to ask the question that she had been wondering about. "What…sort of manga do you two draw?"

"We do comedy," Yayoi said. "Or at least, we try to. It takes both of us to get anything done and even that's iffy sometimes."

"You're a team?" Kaos asked. Yayoi, at least, seemed like someone who drew comedy manga.

"That's right. Yayoi and Nene, the world's smallest trio."

"We've had some one-shots in the past," Nene said. "But our primary work now is on our series _Amazing Swap_."

"I-I've read that!" Kaos said, recognizing the name. "It's in the same magazine as my manga…"

"Yep!" Yayoi said. "Yours was right next to ours in the last issue."

"Yeah," Kaos said. "And it's really funny! I…I can see why you two are serialized."

"Thank you," Nene said. "Though it took Yayoi and me a long time and many attempts to get serialized. We got so many rejections at first…and then we just did one-shots, one after another, and none of those led to serialization until _Amazing Swap_."

"R-Really?" Kaos said. Not only did they work in roughly the same genre she did, but their own manga journey sounded a little like hers.

"Oh yeah," Yayoi said. "Our editor said that we took 'gag manga' too literally and that our storyboards actually made her gag."

"They weren't that bad," Nene said.

"They really were. Everyone hated our work."

"Everyone didn't hate it, Yayoi."

"Sure, just the people who read it."

"Anyway," Nene said, turning to Kaos. "We tried a few different things before we finally hit on something that worked well. Romance, mystery, sci-fi…"

"…magical girls, children's, fantasy, GL, BL, educational, not-so-educational…" Yayoi said.

Nene chuckled. "But finally, with flat-out comedy, we found our niche."

"T-That's sort of like me," Kaos said. "I-I had to submit so many storyboards before I finally made something good." She almost shuddered, thinking of it.

"That puts you ahead of us," Yayoi said. "We haven't managed to get up to that level yet."

Kaos felt a little confused. "But aren't you serialized? You must be good…"

"Yayoi, don't tease the poor girl so much," Nene said. She turned to Kaos. "It sounds like you went through the same sort of struggles that we did, only by yourself. Still, you overcame them. You must be a strong person."

"Uh…I-I'm not," Kaos said. "For the past year, I-I've been living in a dorm with other manga artists, and it's meant everything to me. I-I wouldn't be where I am without the friends I've made there."

"It takes a strong person to admit she needs help," Nene said. "And to acknowledge those who helped her on the way."

"Like the convenience store clerk when we make a snack run during an all-nighter!" Yayoi said. "We really ought to give him some credit in the next volume, by the way, Nene."

"Indeed," Nene said.

"Anyway, the dorm sounds interesting," Yayoi said. "And I know which one you're talking about. I looked into it myself, but living there would have meant leaving Nene, and I couldn't do that. Who'd wake her up for school?"

"No comment," Nene said. "Plus, it would have meant a school transfer."

"To an all-girl school," Yayoi said. "Gotta admit, that might have been interesting. There, I'd only be turned down by girls instead of girls and guys."

"D-Do give a lot of confessions?" Kaos asked though she was pretty sure that was another joke.

"Only on Sundays." Yayoi noticed Kaos's blank look and shook her head. "Nah, the only action I get is my left hand clasping my right when I'm praying someone will notice me. They won't let me on the couples' rides at the amusement park. You know how odd you look trying to hold hands with yourself?"

"Some of those felt forced, Yayoi," Nene said sleepily.

"Well, they can't all be gems," Yayoi said. "I've probably already gone over my allotment for the day or something like that."

"Something like that," Nene agreed, putting her back head down on the table and closing her eyes.

"Excuse Nene," Yayoi said to Kaos. "It's time for her semi-hourly nap."

"It's okay," Kaos said. At least Nene wasn't falling asleep because she thought Kaos was boring. She wondered how they got anything done if this girl was constantly asleep.

"You'd think I'd be the sleepy one," Yayoi said. "It's exhausting being this clever all the time."

Kaos giggled. "She must be awake when you're working."

"You know, I'm not so sure," Yayoi said. "I think there are times when she draws in her sleep."

"That would be something else…" Kaos said. "And it sounds nice, you know, working on manga with your friend, as a pair."

Yayoi smiled at her. "Kaos, do you want to know why Nene and I work as a team?"

"B-Because you're friends…and you get things done faster that way?" Kaos asked. It definitely sounded like a good arrangement.

Yayoi snickered. "That's all true, but those aren't the reasons why. We started together because we're friends, but it's not that which makes us our collaboration really work. Nor do we work together because of Nene's hyperactive nature and boundless energy."

"Why, then?"

"Because we complement each other. I can draw decently, but that's it. I work on things like tone, inking, backgrounds, and stuff like that. And Nene can't really write a narrative or come up with lines and jokes and such. However, the reverse is also true. I can write storylines and snappy dialogue and create decent characters. Nene, well, she can make my ideas absolutely come alive, and I could never match her talent as an artist."

"I see," Kaos said. That all made sense. She wondered what it would be like to work alongside a partner. She had done assistant work for her friends, and they had the same for her, but that was all. There was Ruki, of course, but she and Ruki worked on very different types of manga. Maybe she and Ruki could work together on something in the future.

"But you," Yayoi continued. "Like so many other manga artists, you do both the writing and artwork well on your own. You've got loads of talent. That's obvious just from looking at your work."

"Eheheh, thanks," Kaos said, grinning a little. She couldn't help it. Being praised by this girl she had just met was nice.

"When I saw the same manga right behind us in the rankings two months in a row, I figured it was something good," Yayoi said. "And I was definitely right."

"B-Behind you?" Kaos asked. Then it hit her. "Oh! Your manga was ranked first in the reader surveys." Kaos felt silly, having never asked Amisawa about the manga that was ahead of her. She was too excited about having done so well.

Yayoi nodded at her.

"Wait…" Kaos said. "Does that make us…r-rivals?"

Yayoi scratched her chin. "Maybe in some sense it does. But I feel like it's a lot more important that we support each other as manga artists. You know?"

"I agree!" Kaos said. She wondered if Yayoi would be willing to talk about specific writing techniques in comedy, even if they were competing against each other a little. She definitely seemed to have the art of joking down. She was about to say something when Yayoi's eyes flickered over her shoulder.

"Hey," Yayoi said. "Looks like your editor is here for you."

Kaos turned around. Amisawa was in the doorway.

"Kaos!" Amisawa said. She had a wide smile on her face. "I'm sorry that my previous meeting ran late. I'm ready to meet with you now."

"Coming!" Kaos said. She turned to Yayoi. "Well, good-bye, then. T-Thanks for talking to me."

"See you later, Kaos," Yayoi said. "I'll give Nene your regards as well. Best wishes from both of us on your manga." She winked.

"Thank you." Kaos got up and started to walk out of the room. When she reached the door, she turned around and faced Yayoi. "But…I-I won't lose to you in the survey rankings next time!"

"Is that so?" Yayoi asked, smiling at her. "Well, we won't make it easy for you."

"I hope you don't. And…and I won't make it easy either."

"From what I've seen, I don't doubt that," Yayoi said. "I'll have to keep Nene awake somehow if we want to stay ahead of you. That'll be the hardest part."

Kaos laughed. "Good luck, Yayoi."

"And to you, Kaos. It was good to meet you."

"Likewise."

Kaos gave the two girls one last smile and wave as she left. It occurred to her that, at one time, she would never have been able to talk so freely with them. And she'd had her doubts when Amisawa had pushed her into that room, but now Kaos was glad that she did. She actually talked and made friends with two complete strangers roughly around her age.

Kaos felt a little lighter as she went into her meeting. She sat down at her usual place at the table where she and Amisawa had met so many times. Amisawa had a big stack of papers with her and was grinning.

"So, Kaos," Amisawa said. "I've got some big news for you."

"Y-Yes?" Kaos asked nervously. Could it be…?

"The chief editor has decided to accept The Stars Aligned for serialization. Congratulations!"

Kaos was glad she was sitting down. Had she had been standing, she might well have toppled over. She grabbed the edge of the table with her hands.

"I-I'm glad," Kaos said, though that didn't begin to convey how she felt. She wanted to jump up and run around squealing. She wanted to faint from happiness. But she kept all that under control. She had to. "T-Thank you, Amisawa-san, for supporting me…" She started gasping for breath, unable to get more words out and tilted sideways in her chair. "I-I'm so excited!"

"Whoa, whoa," Amisawa said, reaching across the table and grabbing Kaos by her shoulders to steady her. "Careful there, Kaos. We don't want to have to send our newest serialized artist to the hospital."

"I'm fine!" Kaos exclaimed. And she was. Mostly.

"Are you sure? You're not going to pass out, are you?"

"Really," Kaos said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She released it and smiled at Amisawa, who sat back down.

"Alright, then let's get started."

They discussed the upcoming serialization, the color pages that Kaos would need to produce, and the magazine cover she'd need to design. And all of that would have to be done very quickly. There were more topics, and Kaos tried her best to pay attention, despite how excited she felt.

"There's one more thing, Kaos," Amisawa said when they had finished. "The magazine is having a special anniversary celebration next month. Since that coincides with the beginning of the serialization of your manga, your presence will be expected at it."

"Um…uh…" Kaos was unsure what to say. Would this be just like a party?

"It will provide a chance to show off your series and give some fans a chance to meet you," Amisawa said. "You've made a new series that's achieved some decent popularity in a relatively short amount of time. It's only natural."

"W-What will I have to do?" Kaos asked nervously. This was sounding like more than just a party invitation.

"You'll host a little session where you'll talk about your work, meet some fans, and answer questions. Some will undoubtedly want autographs, given how well _The Stars Aligned_ has done."

"Ah…I see…" Kaos said. This terrified her. She had been fine talking with Yayoi and Nene, but they were just two people, and they were manga artists. How was she supposed to talk directly with fans? And give autographs? That was something someone like Ruki did. Not her. "I…um…will…that is…" She flailed about, trying to find the right words.

Amisawa chuckled and shook her head. "I had a feeling it would be like this. I'll work with you on this, Kaos, and help you prepare. I think that might fall a little outside of what an editor normally does, but it's probably necessary in your case."

"I-I'm sorry for making you do more work," Kaos said. Tears started running down her cheeks. "You…helped me get serialized, so I need to do my best with this too. I-I'll handle it."

"I'm always glad to help you, Kaos," Amisawa said. "Why don't we wrap this up for the day? You should go back to the dorm and celebrate with your friends."

"Y-You're right." Kaos nodded.

She took another deep breath. She should be happy, right? This was what she had dreamed about for so long. She drew good manga that had gotten serialized. She had a wonderful girlfriend. There was no reason for her to be unhappy. She had some time to figure out how to prepare for this event. It wouldn't be too different from talking with that girl Nene, would it (of course, she hadn't been sure of what to say to her).

But Amisawa would help her. And there were others who would probably help her, the ones who had been constantly been there for her over the past year. Besides, now she had something to celebrate with them. Now, she had finally caught up to them. Kaos was a serialized manga artist at last.


	9. Chapter 9

"H-Hello. T-Thank you all for coming. I-I'm Kaos."

Kaos stood in front of the board in an empty classroom after school. This was supposed to be a rehearsal for the upcoming event she had to attend. Ruki, Koyume, and Tsubasa were her audience. Unfortunately, it wasn't going well. Every time Kaos imagined a larger crowd in front of her, her mind went blank and she started shaking and stumbling. Amisawa's words about things becoming more difficult echoed in her head again.

Who would have thought there would be things even harder than getting serialized?

"You have to speak confidently, Kaos," Tsubasa said from the desk she sat in. "And look at your audience when you're speaking. You can't just stutter and stare at the floor."

"I-I'm trying!" Kaos said. "It's just hard…"

"This won't be the last time you'll have to do this," Ruki said. "Especially if you maintain the same level of success. A popular serialized manga artist will have to attend all sorts of events."

"And really, you should try to appreciate it," Tsubasa added. "Remember, not all manga artists get chances to openly talk with their fans."

Tsubasa and Ruki were both right. Tsubasa never had the chance to talk directly with her fans, other than their teacher. And Ruki had been nervous about an autograph session too but had managed through it. That was them, however. For Kaos, the prospect of speaking in front of a large group was nothing short of terrifying. And the idea of having to do it more if _The Stars Aligned_ grew in popularity (which Kaos hoped would keep happening) was also terrifying.

Still, her friends were doing their best to help her as usual. Kaos appreciated that and was grateful. When she and Amisawa had discussed this, Kaos had told her about her friends working with her. Amisawa approved of that. She had tried practicing some with Kaos as well, but with little success. She had expressed hope that Kaos's friends would be able to help her some.

Kaos took a deep breath and gave her introduction another go.

"H-Hello!" she said. "I-I'm Kaos! Thank you all for coming!" She raised her voice a little, hoping to sound more confident.

"You don't need to be so loud," Tsubasa said. "People will wonder why you're shouting at them."

"I-I thought that might help it seem less scary," Kaos said. "I just can't…"

"I overcame my fear of this," Ruki said. "And you can too."

"I know!" Koyume said. "Just imagine everyone in their underwear, Kaos!"

"Uh…in their underwear?" Ruki asked.

"Maybe that's more of a Ruki technique," Koyume said, tilting her head.

"It…it is not!" Ruki exclaimed.

"Eheheh." Kaos giggled. "I can see Ruki doing that though."

"Kaos, don't you start too!"

"You're all getting off track," Tsubasa said. "Kaos, please focus on your event. Koyume, Tsubasa, please focus on helping her."

"Maybe you should tell a few jokes, Kaos," Koyume suggested. "You do write comedy, after all."

Koyume had a point. Kaos's audience would definitely like some jokes. She thought of Yayoi and her joke cracking and then tried to think of a few funny things to say.

"Uh…well…" Nothing came to mind. Why was it so easy to write characters saying or doing funny things but so difficult to come up with funny things to say in real life?

"And maybe not," Tsubasa said. "If you think of something funny beforehand, you can make a note of it. But it's going to be hard to rack your brain for lines when you're standing in front of the crowd unless that's already your thing. And I don't think improvisation is really your thing, Kaos. I get the feeling you'll be dealing with enough as it is."

"Right," Kaos said. "Okay, l-let me try again. Ahem. H-Hello, everyone. Thank you for-"

"What are you girls doing?"

Kaos stopped and looked over at the voice that had interrupted her. Their teacher Nijino had poked her head into the classroom.

"W-We're practicing," Kaos said.

Nijino raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"She has an event!" Koyume said happily, pointing at Kaos. "She's going to talk about her manga, sign autographs, and-"

"Koyume!" Ruki said sharply. Kaos figured she didn't want to say too much in front of Nijino. Turning to their teacher, Ruki continued, "We were simply using this classroom because it was free. We can leave if you feel we're causing a disturbance, Sensei."

"No, you're fine to do so," Nijino said. "Just…well…"

"What is it, Sensei?"

Nijino's eyes darted sideways. "Is it okay if I stay to watch?" she asked, almost sounding a little meek. "Maybe I can even help some."

Ruki turned to Kaos. "That's really up to you, I suppose."

"I-It's fine," Kaos said, though she was unsure why their teacher would want to stay and watch this. She didn't mind Nijino-sensei being there, and she knew about them being manga artists already.

Nijino took a seat in the front row of desks next to Koyume, Tsubasa, and Ruki.

"I-I'm going to be introducing my manga," Kaos said. "S-So, I'm practicing speaking my introduction."

"Alright, then," Nijino said. "Let's hear it then."

"Ah, okay," Kaos said. She cleared her throat. "Uh, h-hello. T-Thank you all for coming. I…um…that is…"

"No, no, no!" Nijino said sharply. "Moeta-san, that sort of behavior will never do! You need to speak with authority and pride. If you don't feel confident about your own manga, how are your fans going to feel about it?"

"I-I'm sorry!" Kaos said, bowing, though she secretly felt happy and giggled to herself a bit. Being lectured by the pretty Nijino-sensei was always nice. At her desk, Ruki looked down and rubbed her forehead.

"Her fans are probably okay with the manga, all things considered," Tsubasa said. "Her surveys have been great. It's just a matter of getting her to keep everything together when addressing everyone at this event session she has to do."

"If your surveys have been good, then you have no reason to be so nervous," Nijino said to Kaos. Her voice was full of authority. "Try it again, but keep your back straight and speak clearly and without stuttering!"

"Yes!" Kaos said, bowing again. "Ahem! Hello! My name is Kaos! Welcome, everyone! I'm very glad to be addressing you! My manga, _The Stars Aligned_ , begins serialization this month, so please look forward to it!"

"Better," Nijino said.

"Hooray, Kaos!" Koyume said, clapping her hands together. "I knew you could do it!"

"Interesting," Tsubasa commented. "That was quite a turnaround."

"Of course it would be like this," Ruki sighed. "Well, at least she's not a complete wreck."

"Now," Nijino said. "Do it again."

Nijino had Kaos run through her introduction several more times before she was satisfied with it. The four of them left school and made their way home to the dorms.

"Well, I feel like we actually made some progress at the end there," Tsubasa said as they crossed a street.

"Y-Yes, I'll report this to Amisawa," Kaos said. "Though she wants to work with me some more too…"

"It's good to have an editor who cares about you so much," Tsubasa said. "Although she probably doesn't want to see the publisher embarrassed either."

"Oh…" Kaos said. "Tsubasa pulls no punches. But you're right. I can't let Amisawa or the publisher down either. I have to make sure I nail this!"

"Maybe we should just invite Nijino-sensei and have her yell at you beforehand," Ruki muttered.

"Er, what was that, Ruki?" Kaos asked.

"Ah, nothing," Ruki said, taking Kaos's hand. Kaos felt a pleasant shiver as she did. "I'm glad we've finally made some progress today. I'm sure you'll do fine when the real thing comes, Kaos."

"Y-You'll come, right, Ruki?" Kaos asked. "I-I would feel so much better knowing that you're there."

"Of course, Kaos," Ruki said. "We'll all be there to support you." She turned to Koyume and Tsubasa. "Right?"

Koyume and Tsubasa both affirmed that they would be.

"I just wish there was something more I could do for you," Ruki said. "I'm not sure if I've been of much use."

"Short of standing in for her," Tsubasa said. "I don't think there is."

"It's enough that you've helped me," Kaos said, squeezing Ruki's hand. "And enough that you'll be there."

Ruki smiled warmly back at her. "As if I'd do otherwise, Kaos."

"Would you look at them?" Tsubasa said to Koyume.

"All lovey-dovey!" Koyume exclaimed happily. "Isn't it so adorable?"

"Yes, young love," Tsubasa said. "It takes me back. Doesn't it take you back?" Koyume giggled.

"Hey!" Ruki protested. "I don't want to hear any of that from either of you!"

Kaos smiled to herself happily. With Ruki and her friends, maybe she'd make it through this after all somehow.

* * *

The day of the anniversary celebration arrived. Kaos felt even worse than she had on the day _The Stars Aligned_ had been published. Her tummy was twisting into directions she'd never thought possible, and she couldn't stop shaking at all. She had to be coaxed into eating breakfast again.

The housemother tried to apply some makeup to her, just as she had done with Ruki for her autograph signing event. However, upon looking into the mirror, Kaos could see that it was the same old story for her: she didn't look grown-up, she looked like a little kid trying on makeup.

The housemother agreed. She wiped it off of Kaos and applied something much lighter. Looking at her face in the mirror a second time, Kaos liked what she saw. She actually did look just a little older and more sophisticated. The housemother also informed her that makeup wouldn't run. When Kaos had asked why that was important (she wasn't planning on going and getting all sweaty and messy), the housemother just smiled knowingly at her and adjusted Kaos's beret.

The anniversary event was being held at the Bunhousha office itself. Kaos had been there many, many times, of course, but rarely had she felt so nervous going there. Ruki and her friends came with her, and that helped a little, but Kaos was still shaking badly when they reached the office building.

The large lobby of the Bunhousha office had been specially decorated for the anniversary event. Kaos saw banners of different manga series adorning displays behind tables that had been set up. She scanned around, admiring them until she saw a table with a banner showing the special color splash of _The Stars Aligned_ over it. Kaos recognized the art on the banner as her own work, the one she had made just for this occasion, with all her characters hugging and laughing and smiling.

Kaos wished she could feel so light-hearted and carefree.

The waiting made it worse. Sometime after the event begun, Kaos found herself standing in the wings of the lobby, and rife with apprehension about her session. She almost felt like someone being marched to their own execution. She wished Ruki could have waited with her, but Ruki had presumably gone to join the crowd of people who'd be listening to her. Instead, she was alone here with Amisawa.

"You seem really, really nervous, Kaos," Amisawa said. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Y-Yes," Kaos lied. "I-I have p-prepared, just like we d-discussed."

Amisawa didn't look convinced. "Do I need to step out there with you? I'd prefer not to – it's best for a manga to be introduced by its author rather than its editor – but if it's necessary, I'll do so."

"N-No," Kaos said. "I-I am ready."

Amisawa rubbed her forehead. "I was afraid of this…"

But there was no time for them to talk any further. Before Amisawa could say anything else, Kaos heard herself being announced.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the creator of _The Stars Aligned_ , Kaos!"

Amisawa gave Kaos a gentle push, and she nervously made her way out into the lobby, trying not to stare too much at the people gathered. She stepped behind the small table with copies of the latest issue of _Manga Time Kirara_ on it. Of course, it showed _The Stars Aligned_ on the cover with all the girls of Hoshi Academy smiling up at her. Kaos could hear the chatter of the audience.

"Oh, is that Kaos? She looks really young."

"Right? They didn't just ask a kid to come and stand in, did they?"

"No, I heard she's in high school."

"But she's so small."

"And she's so cute!"

"Do you think she's single?"

Eventually, they quieted down. Kaos nervously scanned the audience, but she couldn't spot any of the comforting, familiar faces she knew and loved. Had they just gone home and left her? No, surely they wouldn't have, but Kaos still wished she could see them.

"H-Hello," Kaos said. Unable to help herself, she started shaking. "I-I'm Kaos. It's…um, it's g-good to be here, everyone. I-I'm pleased to meet you all." She tried to steady herself. "T-The Stars Aligned starts serialization this month. I-I hope e-everyone enjoys it." What else was she supposed to say? Her mind blanked, and she suddenly couldn't remember. She had no idea what to do next.

There was a pause and some awkward silence. But then the audience members apparently took this as a sign to start asking questions.

"Kaos! What inspired you to draw _The Stars Aligned_? Your own school experience, maybe?" someone called.

"I…um…that is…" Kaos stuttered. She wasn't sure where to begin on that one. But before she could say anything, more questions started coming at her.

"Are the characters based on real girls you now? Or yourself? Which character is your favorite?"

"How long have you been drawing?"

"How do you think up all the jokes? Is that really hard?"

"Can I ask about the relationship between two of the characters?"

"Are you planning any special spinoffs? Will there be a special summer issue? Or a Christmas one?"

"What manga and anime do you like?"

"What's your favorite dessert?"

"Kaos! Are you single?"

The barrage of questions continued. Kaos felt completely overwhelmed. Nothing could have prepared her for this. She looked nervously back at the crowd, but no words came at all. Full-blown panic overtook her. Her breath started coming in short, strangled gasps.

She had to get out of here. Could she just run for it? No, her legs were wobbling so bad that she'd probably fall over as she ran and flash everyone. Unable to cope or find any way out, Kaos dove under the table and hid behind the tablecloth.

Trying to ignore the confused chatter outside, Kaos buried her face in her hands and started crying, rocking back and forth as she did.

 _I can't do this, I can't do this. I just can't do this! And now I've screwed up everything. Maybe this is all a bad dream and I'll wake up soon. No, this isn't a dream. It's real. It's horrifyingly real and scarier and more awful than anything even Fuura could ever come up with._

What should have been one of the best days of her life had turned into a complete nightmare. What was she going to do now?

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Kaos."

Kaos looked up. Ruki was under the table with her, facing her and smiling at her.

"Ruki!" Kaos cried, throwing her arms around her as best she could in the tiny space. She sobbed against Ruki's shoulder. "I've messed up, this is such a fiasco, and they're not going to want me as a manga artist anymore and my series is going to get canceled, and I'll have to hide somewhere in shame or just die…"

"Hey, hush, it's okay," Ruki said, stroking her head. "Don't talk like that. You haven't messed up. I'm here to help you. Though we probably ought to get out from under this table as soon as possible. It's a little harder for me to squat under here than you." She wiped Kaos's eyes with a handkerchief. "And not just me. Koyume and Tsubasa are out there too. And there's someone else right here with me who wants to help."

"S-Someone else?"

As if on cue, a little white cat head poked out of the front of Ruki's shirt. Ruki pulled the cat out and handed her to Kaos. "I thought she might be of some assistance."

"Nyaos!" Kaos said, hugging the cat and feeling some of the stress drain away. "Where did you…wait, Ruki, when did you…?"

"I'll explain afterward," Ruki said. "In the meantime, let's get out from under this table. I told your editor I'd take care of this, and she's going to come over here soon if we don't reemerge shortly."

"B-But the crowd…" Kaos said.

"I know," Ruki said. "But I'll stay there with you. Nyaos too. I can't really say much, as it's your event. But I'll do what I can."

"R-Ruki…" Kaos said, starting to tear up again.

"Hey, don't start crying again." A serious look fell over Ruki's face. "You're calm now. It's going to be alright. You'll get through this, you'll enjoy it, and you'll make the crowd out there really happy."

Ruki's voice was so stern that Kaos couldn't help but suddenly feel calmer. She had sounded like Nijino for a brief instant. Kaos really liked that. Her mouth twitched a little.

 _Maybe Ruki will do that again for me later if I ask her to and…uh, well, now probably isn't the time to think about that. She's right. I need to get out from under this table._

Kaos nodded at Ruki. "Okay! I'm ready. Let's…let's go out there and meet the people, Ruki!"

Kaos and Ruki emerged from under the table, with Kaos cuddling Nyaos in her arms. There was some confused muttering from the crowd.

"Ah, please excuse the interruption!" Ruki said to the audience. "Kaos's assistant here had run under the table, and we had to retrieve her."

 _Assistant? Oh, right! Nyaos!_

Kaos understand what Ruki was doing. She held up Nyaos. "T-This is Nyaos. She helps me out with my manga sometimes."

The crowd seemed to like this. There were some chuckles, along with a few little gasps and happy cries and the sounds of some folks clapping their hands together.

"Oh, a cat! Where did it come from?"

"Who cares? Kaos looks even cuter when she's holding it!"

"She's not serious about it assisting her, is she? Can cats draw manga?"

"Maybe it does the backgrounds."

"Nyaos…is Kaos single?" (Kaos saw Ruki frown at this question.)

Kaos smiled and laughed some. Maybe she could enjoy this after all. She reminded herself of something: it was highly likely that people in this crowd were like her. They enjoyed the same anime and manga full of cute girls just like she did, and it was that same enjoyment that had led her to draw _The Stars Aligned_ in the first place. She took a deep breath and glanced at Ruki, who was smiling back at her. Turning back to the audience, she saw that her friends hadn't abandoned her after all. She saw Koyume and Tsubasa and even the housemother from the dorm.

"As I said," Kaos began. " _The Stars Aligned_ will be serialized starting this month. There will be as much love and laughter in each new chapter as there was in the first few. And I'll do my best to keep that going. Please look forward to it!"

The audience politely applauded. Kaos felt a little invigorated. She started talking about the manga a little more, going into some detail about its characters and the school they attended. She closed by thanking her editor, the company, and everyone who had supported her. She couldn't forget that, of course.

"I…I believe some of you had specific questions?" Kaos asked.

One at a time, the audience members asked their questions. Now, Kaos was able to answer them and even got more excited as she talked about her own work full of cute girls (or others' that she liked). She realized she was geeking out a little in front of so many people, but they seemed to like it and some were clearly getting into it with her. In the end, she had definitely charmed them.

When her time was finally up, the crowd applauded loudly. Some of them came forward to the table, asking Kaos to sign their copy of _Manga Time Kirara_ , which Kaos happily did. A few of them engaged her in further discussion about her manga and manga in general.

It was all wonderful. Kaos felt like a real manga artist. At the same time, it was exhausting. Eventually, Kaos had to excuse herself.

It was over, she told herself. Somehow, she made it through. She had presented her manga, talked to a bunch with strangers and had narrowly avoided catastrophe. Maybe her 'in-person' debut didn't quite go perfectly, but Kaos supposed it could have gone worse.

But she owed thanks to someone for that. And that someone had never left her side since she emerged from hiding under the table. As soon as she could, Kaos motioned for Ruki to follow her into an empty hallway.

"Ruki!" Kaos threw arms around Ruki's neck and hugged her tightly.

Ruki squeezed her back. "Good job out there, Kaos."

"I-I don't know about a good job," Kaos said. "How did you get Nyaos here?"

"Well, before the event started, I thought you might need some extra help," Ruki said. "So, I messaged the housemother and asked her to bring Nyaos here."

Tears started streaming down Kaos's face. "You thought of me…Ruki…and you saved me…"

"Oh, Kaos. I wouldn't have just left you hanging. And I'm glad I planned ahead. As soon as I saw you go under the table, I knew I had to do something, so I told your editor I'd take care of it."

"Thank you," Kaos said softly. "Ruki, I-"

A curt voiced behind her cut Kaos off.

"Kaos!"

Kaos turned around. Amisawa was standing right behind her with a sharp frown on her face. Kaos pulled away from Ruki and looked at Amisawa with apprehension.

"Exactly what were you doing out there?!" Amisawa boggled. "I thought you told me you were prepared for this!"

"A-Amisawa-san!" Kaos exclaimed, bowing as best she could. "I apologize for the trouble today! I realize I encountered some issues! I will do my best to resolve them so as to avoid any such incidents in the future!"

"You and I are going to have a long talk later," Amisawa said, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses.

"Oh no…" Kaos suddenly felt even more scared than when she had been standing in front of the crowd. She started shrinking away, wondering if she could hide behind Ruki.

"Wait," Ruki said, cutting in. "Kaos did her best. We all knew this sort of thing would be really difficult for her. I'm sure you did too."

"Maybe, but that's no excuse for-" Amisawa started, but Ruki cut her off.

"I'm not trying to excuse her," Ruki said. "I'm simply acknowledging how hard this was for her to do. It was tough for me when I had to do an autograph session, albeit for somewhat different reasons. Us manga artists aren't always the most social creatures. Some of us, anyway."

Amisawa crossed her arms, and Ruki continued.

"But Kaos worked hard in the time leading up to this. She practiced talking in front of her friends at school and even in front of her teacher. She met with you about it. Just like she worked hard at her manga, she did her best to prepare for this."

"That's true," Amisawa admitted. "But if you hadn't intervened, today would have been a complete disaster."

"Yes, and she'll continue trying to improve, of course," Ruki said. "Obviously, this can't happen again, but we did make it through today, the disaster was averted, and I think the crowd enjoyed seeing and listening to her. They were definitely having fun by the end there."

Ruki had protected her! She was like a knight who rode in her to defend her virtue and honor. Okay, maybe it wasn't that serious and Amisawa certainly was no monster, but warmth and affection for her girlfriend swelled up in Kaos. She had to say something too.

"R-right!" Kaos said. "I will keep working at it, just like I worked at my manga! Please don't abandon me, Amisawa-san!"

"Abandon you?" Amisawa asked.

"P-Please continue to be my editor and help me improve."

"Oh, Kaos," Amisawa sighed. "I never had any intention of quitting as your editor, especially not right after you've become serialized. I was just irritated that what happened today is more or less exactly what I expected to happen."

"If you expected it," Ruki said with a sly smile. "Then you can't be _too_ angry, can you?"

"I guess not," Amisawa said, catching on that Ruki had outplayed her. "Still. This all had better be worked out by the time we release the first full volume of _The Stars Aligned_ , Kaos."

"T-The first volume?" Kaos asked.

"Yes," Amisawa said. "If your manga continues to be so popular, and I'm confident that it will, the release of the first volume will be quite an event. And since it'll be devoted entirely to you, you'll have to be even more involved."

"Uh…" Kaos said, feeling herself turn red. "W-Will I have to?" The magazine anniversary celebration had been hard enough, and she had only barely made it through that.

"Of course you'll have to," Amisawa said, looking surprised she'd even ask that question. "It's your manga, your creation. It stands very strong on its own quality, but you'll have to promote it sometimes as well. The fans will want it. And as it continues to grow, they'll want it even more. And then you'll have to do it again when any subsequent volumes are released. Today wasn't a one-time event."

"I-I see," Kaos said.

"Popularity can be a double-edged sword," Ruki said. "But when you come to see the sort of impact you can have on your readers and fans and how much your manga means to them, well, it's a wonderful feeling."

Kaos thought of how she felt when she was in front of the crowd and realized that they were here people and that they were like her. Ruki was right. Talking to other people, especially strangers, could be really scary, but a shared love of something could make it sweet. And that was part of the reason she had become so close with everyone else in the dorm in the first place, wasn't it? Their shared love of manga.

"She's right," Amisawa said. "Though you'll need to work on your stage fright. I apologize for snapping at you. We'll discuss things later. I should go and find the chief editor. Please excuse me." With that, she walked off down the hall, leaving Ruki and Kaos by themselves.

"Ruki." Kaos was glad to have a moment alone with her at last. "You saved me again. Thank you."

"Ah, you're welcome," Ruki said. "I'm glad I was able to help."

"I-I'm really sorry you had to though, both times," Kaos said. Really, what kind of manga artist was she, having to depend on her girlfriend to keep her from completely embarrassing herself? Even though she had attained success and was serialized, well, some things were still as difficult as ever for her. She could understand why Amisawa had been so annoyed.

"You've no reason at all to be sorry," Ruki said. "I'd do it again without a second thought."

"I caused you trouble though," Kaos said glumly. "I've become serialized, and I nearly blew It, and-"

"Hey now," Ruki interrupted. "Stop that. You can't hold on to that attitude, Kaos. So, quit it with the self-doubt and the self-blaming and so on." She paused. "Or I'll just keep lecturing you until it finally clicks."

"I might not mind that so much…" Kaos said, smiling at Ruki. Ruki's stern words were as nice to hear as Nijino-sensei's…except Ruki was also her girlfriend, so that made them even more special.

Ruki laughed. "You're as predictable as clockwork, Kaos."

Kaos hugged Ruki again. "It only seems like that because Ruki is so good at making me happy."

"Maybe both."

"You were right about what you said before," Kaos said. "We don't have the same kind of relationship as Koyume and Tsubasa, do we?"

"No, we really don't," Ruki said. "Or like anyone else for that matter. There's very little that's 'normal' about you and me in any way whatsoever."

Kaos pressed her face against Ruki's chest. "I would rather be strange with Ruki than normal with anyone else."

Ruki hugged her back and stroked her hair. "Me too."


	10. Chapter 10

"It's so hot today. Again."

Kaos fanned herself as she and Ruki walked along. Since the start of summer, each day felt hotter than the previous one, as though the sun was determined to keep outdoing itself. Even though they were just walking from the manga supply store back to the dorm, sweat still rolled down her face. Ruki looked as though she wasn't enjoying the heat any more than Kaos was.

"It really is," Ruki said. "I'm not sure I'm ready for summer, but here we are."

Ruki and Kaos had taken a short trip to get art supplies, just the two of them. Kaos enjoyed that – it felt like a date to her – and figured it was worth enduring the heat for this.

"Well, we can sit in a nice cool room when we're back," Kaos said. "And get to work on our manga, I guess." That was most likely what they'd be doing, anyway. Dating or not, some things wouldn't change at all.

"Are the storyboards for your next set of chapters still going well?" Ruki asked. "I hope you didn't stay up too late working on them. I know it's summer break, but you still need to sleep regularly." No doubt, she was remembering when Kaos came up with the original storyboard for _The Stars Aligned_ and turned herself into a zombie.

"Like you're one to talk," Kaos teased, smiling mischievously, one little fang showing. "Just how many all-nighters does Ruki pull?"

"Guilty as charged," Ruki admitted. "I guess we can't help being busy. You know, I worried for so long that dating someone else would be impossible because of the schedule I had to keep. But you understand all that, because you also live it, Kaos. Dating another manga artist really is the best for both of us, isn't it?"

"It is," Kaos said, though she couldn't really imagine dating anyone besides Ruki. She had never been one of the popular girls in middle school. A random girl would occasionally call her cute, but Kaos was always too shy to respond. Boys had mostly ignored her. Until Ruki, high school had been pretty much the same. "Anyway, to answer your question, yes, the next set of storyboards is going well. Amisawa should be pleased with them. I think they're even better than the chapters done so far."

That was an understatement. In fact, when it came to her manga, it had basically been one win after another for Kaos, and her streak still wasn't broken.

The most recent chapter of _The Stars Aligned_ had been ranked first in the reader surveys for the month. Kaos had been beside herself when Amisawa had told her. So many people seemed to love the girls of Hoshi Academy and wanted to see what they would get up to next. Now that it was serialized, Kaos received a lot of fan mail telling her how excited they were and how much they looked forward to the new chapters. This was what success was like. She'd read through some of those messages again and again, letting the pleasant feeling she got from doing so swell up inside her.

It was a different kind of happiness than what she got from being with Ruki, but it was still wonderful.

Yayoi and Nene had also left a letter of congratulations with Amisawa (and had attached a little sketch of the two of them that showed Nene fast asleep…Kaos briefly wondered which one of them had drawn it). Her mother told her that the people in her neighborhood back in Shirakawa loved _The Stars Aligned_. Kaos had smiled at the thought the old ladies who lived near them reading her manga.

Amisawa informed her that _The Stars Aligned_ was well on its way to becoming one of the magazine's flagship series and that she would work with Kaos to keep it that way, reminding her that she could never go easy on her. At one time, all that pressure would have terrified Kaos, petrifying her enough to keep her from working on it. Now, she was able to put that nervous energy to a slightly better use and pour it into her work for her manga. It was strange to look back and think about all the progress she had made.

Granted, she still had a long way to go when it came to dealing with actual people, but she figured she had to conquer one mountain at a time.

"How do you think Koyume is doing in her class today?" Kaos asked as they turned down a different street.

"Hopefully better," Ruki said. She sighed. "Once Tsubasa is back, I would really like for all four of us to do some things together again, and we can't do that if Koyume ends up having to spend her entire summer break at school."

Koyume was off taking supplementary lessons in preparation for her makeup exams. The first term of school had both its ups and downs for her. Her own manga was better than ever and even more popular, but her grades had suffered, and she had failed every single subject. Kaos suspected this was partly due to the fact that she spent most of her time in class making doe eyes at Tsubasa and sighing happily.

Tsubasa, on the other hand, was away on a family trip, one she had tried (but failed) to get out of. Kaos was sympathetic; when Tsubasa had left, she made a comment about marching off to her own exile and execution, which reminded Kaos of her own feelings prior to the manga event she had done. Tsubasa had promised to help Koyume with her supplementary lessons when she returned and had fully healed and recovered (her words) from her family trip.

In Tsubasa's absence, Kaos had stepped in to try and tutor Koyume as best she could. Koyume had done a lot for her, so she was glad to repay her some. Ruki had pitched in as well. Kaos wasn't sure how much progress they made, however, since Koyume said she was too depressed to study or do much of anything without Tsubasa around.

Well, every relationship had its quirks. And Kaos understood that being away from the person you loved was rough, especially when you knew they were going through something difficult like Tsubasa was. Kaos wanted all four of them to spend more time together as well, but for the moment, it was just her and Ruki.

That was fine too.

"Thinking of Koyume makes me want to eat something sweet," Ruki said. "Why don't we get some ice cream before we go back to the dorm?"

Kaos liked that idea, so they did just that. They bought some ice cream cones at a convenience store across the street from the park. It was the same park where Kaos and her friends had gone walking shortly before the term had started and Kaos had hit her head. It felt like that had happened in another lifetime.

"There's a bench with some shade," Ruki said, pointing. "We can eat these there."

As they were eating their ice cream on the bench, Kaos heard mewing at her feet. She looked down and saw that a little orange was sitting on the ground and looking up at her. Kaos smiled at it and patted her leg. The cat leaped up into her lap, and Kaos began petting it.

Kaos heard a click. She looked over and saw that Ruki was holding up her phone and pointing it at her.

"I can never get enough cute Kaos pictures," Ruki said happily.

"You can see the real me anytime you want though," Kaos pointed out.

"That's true, but I still like saving them."

"Then go ahead and do so," Kaos said. Even with her old phone, Ruki had liked taking pictures of things. She looked back down at the cat and petted it some more with her free hand, continuing to eat her ice cream with her other. The heat wasn't so bad when you had ice cream to eat, a cat to pet, and a pretty girlfriend to talk with.

"Kaos," Ruki suddenly said, poking her arm. "Take a look."

"Eh?"

Kaos looked up. While they had been sitting and eating their ice cream, a number of little animals had surrounded the bench. There were a few more cats and a dog, but also birds, some little grey mice, and a fox. There was also what looked like a mother duck with her ducklings in tow, while a pair of butterflies fluttered over them. A little squirrel alternated between snacking on an acorn and chittering at her. A grey goat brayed happily as it approached them, with two tortoises shuffling along and avoiding its hooves. The oddest one was probably the zebra yearling that peeked at them from behind a nearby tree.

All of the animals were looking at Kaos expectantly. Well, like the manga fans at the anniversary event, they were probably expecting her to greet them and say something.

"Hello, there!" Kaos said, waving her hands. A few paws and tails waved back at her.

"Where did they all come from?" Ruki asked, looking around. "It's like we're in a zoo. I won't deny that it's cute, but isn't this kind of strange, Kaos?"

"It's always been like this for me," Kaos said. As far back as she could remember she had always liked animals, and the reverse had applied as well. She addressed all the furry and feathered and scaled little friends gathered around them. "Okay, now everyone has to play nice while you're here…"

Some of the animals nodded back at her.

Ruki chuckled. "You're so popular with them. You're like a princess in a fairy tale, attracting all the woodland creatures around her."

"T-Thanks," Kaos said. Though she liked the idea, that wasn't something people normally compared her to. Princesses were tall and graceful (like Ruki) or simply sweet and beautiful (like Koyume). They didn't look like awkward pink-haired girls who resembled a grade-schooler despite being in high school.

"I wonder how you'd look in one of those fancy dresses," Ruki said. "With all the frills and bows and lace and such, a silver tiara on your head…"

Kaos knew exactly what she'd look like – a little kid playing dress-up.

"They could even make a manga series about it," Ruki continued. "Princess Kaos and All Her Animal Friends…" Ruki smiled, put her hands up to her cheeks, and sighed happily. Kaos smiled at her, but then Ruki's face turned red, and she covered her face with her hands.

 _She probably just thought of something lewd._

"It's okay…I wouldn't make a good manga character anyway," Kaos said. "But if I was in a romance manga with Ruki…well, that would be alright."

Ruki lowered her hands and chuckled. "I can't see myself as a manga character either."

"We'll just have to settle for real romance, then," Kaos said.

"I think I can live with that."

"You've done so much for me, and you make me happy," Kaos said. "I wish I could return the favor and do something you'd really like to do."

"Oh?" Ruki said. "Well, I can think of one thing. It might be a bit…awkward, but if you're okay with it, I think it might be really enjoyable for both of us."

Kaos reached over and grabbed Ruki's hand. "Then go ahead and say it! I'll do anything that Ruki wants me to do!"

"Anything?" Ruki blushed. "It might also be a little embarrassing…it's almost too embarrassing to say…"

"Anything!" Kaos repeated. She realized Ruki might have been thinking of something really lewd, but Kaos would try her best, even if the prospect made her both really excited and nervous. "N-No matter what…just say it, Ruki!"

"Alright," Ruki said. "Then let's go back to my room in the dorm. I think we'll want some privacy for this."

* * *

It turned out that what Ruki wanted to do wasn't quite what Kaos had anticipated.

 _Ruki was right. This is embarrassing…but I said I would do anything for her, and if it makes her happy…well, then I can't complain._

Kaos sat on Ruki's bed wearing a pink and fuzzy rabbit suit. She had pulled up the hood, though the ears flopped over. Kaos wasn't sure if it was meant to be a costume or a pajama onesie. Maybe it was both. Despite being made for a child, it was actually a little too big for Kaos. The ends of the sleeves covered her hands, and the ends of the legs went over her feet. However, that seemed to make Ruki even happier.

"Oh, Kaos, you're so adorable!" Ruki exclaimed, pumping her fists excitedly. "This is the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life!"

"T-Thank you, Ruki," Kaos said. While it was wonderful to see Ruki so elated, Kaos hoped this wouldn't become a regular thing. Aside from feeling silly, the rabbit costume was also really hot and stuffy.

"We just need to put the finishing touches on," Ruki said. She took out a small black marker. "Now, hold still."

"W-What are you doing with that?" Kaos asked.

"Giving you whiskers and a little nose," Ruki said, drawing on Kaos's face with the marker. It tickled some, and Kaos quickly turned her head aside.

"Ah-choo!"

"Ooh, such a cute sneeze!" Ruki squealed with ecstasy. "Kaos, can you do that again? Will you show me how to record video on my phone so I can save it?"

"I can't really sneeze on command," Kaos said. She held up her right hand with the sleeve flopped over it. "And it's hard to use a phone with this…"

Not to mention that she wasn't so sure she wanted any video evidence that this had ever taken place.

"Alright, alright," Ruki said. "I won't record you. I'll just take some pictures!"

Kaos wasn't sure she wanted photographic evidence of this escapade either. However, she was uncertain how to protest as Ruki snatched up her phone and began snapping pictures of Rabbit Kaos. She shifted uncomfortably on the bed.

 _Maybe I shouldn't have taught her how to take pictures on that phone._

"Okay, smile, Kaos!" Ruki said. Her phone made some more clicking noises. "You're a much cuter bunny when you smile."

This was for Ruki, Kaos reminded herself yet again. She put on the best smile she could.

"So cute," Ruki sighed. "Do…do you think you could pose me for some?"

"P-Pose?" Kaos thought of the time Koyume had posed for Ruki. She probably didn't mean those sorts of poses though. "How do you want me to pose?"

"Try raising your fist up next to your cheek, except keep it facing downward." Ruki put her own fist next to her cheek. "Like this."

"Isn't that more like a cat?"

"Well, maybe," Ruki admitted. "But you'll make it look cute. I just know it. Please?"

"Alright." Kaos made a fist, and rubbed her face a little with it, as though she was a cat washing itself. Was this what it was like for Koyume when she had posed for Ruki? Kaos wondered how long Ruki would keep her doing this.

Probably for a while, she decided. Ruki was clearly having the time of her life.

"Oh, yes! That's so wonderful, Kaos!"

Ruki directed Kaos for a few more poses and continued to take pictures. She hoped that she wouldn't show these to anyone. She didn't mind Ruki looking at them, but such pictures getting out might be uncomfortable. Finally, Ruki put her phone down, knelt on the bed next to Kaos, and stroked her cheek.

"You really do look delightful in that, Kaos," Ruki said. "I know it was probably a little awkward to do this…so…thanks…"

"It's fine," Kaos said. "If Ruki…" She forgot what she was about to say, however, as Ruki put her other hand on Kaos's cheek. "Uh…Ruki? What are you doing now?"

"Kaos…"

Kaos looked at her, and their eyes met. "Ruki?"

Keeping her hands on Kaos's cheeks, Ruki closed her eyes and brought her face nearer and nearer. Kaos then realized what was about to happen and panicked a little. She absolutely wanted to do what Ruki was about to do, but she had no idea how to go about doing it. Her heart was pounding like a jackhammer, and Kaos was sure that Ruki could hear it.

Before Kaos could do or say anything else, however, Ruki put her lips Kaos's own and kissed her. Kaos hesitantly wrapped her arms around Ruki's neck, hoping that was the correct place for them in this scenario. Ruki's arms slid around her waist, and they continued to kiss.

 _We're kissing! Ruki and I are actually kissing! Oh..._

In the end, her panic had been over nothing.

When they pulled apart, Kaos looked at Ruki, both blushing and grinning. She couldn't help it; nothing she had ever felt topped this feeling. Ruki smiled back at her. Both girls were breathing a little harder, and Kaos's heart had finally started to calm.

Ruki, of course, looked as alluring and gorgeous as ever. Kaos? Well, probably not so much. Neither of those traits really applied to her, and that went double when she was wearing a pink rabbit costume. But this feeling of having kissed Ruki overshadow the silliness she had felt.

They stayed like that for some time, their arms around one other, gazing into each other's eyes. Kaos wasn't sure how long that lasted, but she would later reflect that it should have gone on longer than it did.

 _Boom!_

Suddenly, the door to their room flung open. Kaos and Ruki both turned their heads. A tired-looking Tsubasa rambled in with Koyume right behind her.

"I'm finally back," Tsubasa said. "What an ordeal. I swear, I'm never again…um…what…"

Tsubasa blinked at Kaos and Ruki and her eyes widened. Behind her, Koyume tilted her head quizzically.

"C-Close the door!" Ruki said. Her face was dark red.

"Right." Tsubasa stepped back out of the room, pulling Koyume as she did and closed the door.

"Oh dear…" Kaos said. She and Ruki stayed as they were. "I probably ought to change out of this now…"

 _Boom!_ The door flung open again. Kaos and Ruki both jumped, startled.

"GAH!"

"I'm sorry," Tsubasa said as she peered back in. "But I had to make sure that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me and that I actually saw what I thought I saw. I've had a rough time and thought I might be hallucinating."

"Y-You're not seeing things," Kaos said.

"That's a relief."

"C-Close the door!" Ruki shouted. "Why did you open it again?!"

But it was too late. Another girl Kaos didn't know appeared behind Tsubasa and Koyume.

"What in the world is going on over here? I heard shouting, and…oh my," she said. Her eyes widened.

Kaos heard someone else in the hallway call. "What is it? What's happening over there?"

The girl turned her head. "I'm…uh…not entirely sure. It looks kind of cute though…I think?"

"Oh, cute? I want to see." Kaos saw another different girl look into the room. "Huh. Is this cosplay? Or is it something manga-related?"

"I heard those two are in _that_ kind of relationship," the first girl said.

"What, dating?" the second girl asked.

"Yeah. So maybe it's…you know."

"What?"

" _You_ _know_."

"Oh! Uh…we probably ought to go…"

However, the girls at the doorway had attracted others' attention. Before Kaos and Ruki could do anything else, a few more girls joined the throng at the doorway. Kaos looked at Ruki, but her face had gone from red to white. She looked to be in complete shock. No doubt it looked like an odd scene – two girls on Ruki's bed, one of them in a pink, fuzzy rabbit costume. Kaos could hear the girls at the doorway chattering about it.

"What's her name? The one in the rabbit costume?"

"Uh…Ka-something, I think? I don't really know her, but I think she just got serialized…"

"Is this some kind of hazing ritual then? Am I going to have to do that when I become serialized?!"

"If that's the case, then you'll never have to worry about it, huh?"

"Boo, you're so mean."

Having apparently had enough, Tsubasa pushed the girls aside and made her way back into the room. Koyume followed her in.

"Okay," Tsubasa said, addressing the gathering at the door. "There's nothing to see here, would you all please just-"

She was interrupted by Fuura, who had apparently also joined the girls at the door.

"Oh, my," Fuura said. "Doesn't all this look interesting? This room seems much more fun than even my own!"

"Senpai," Kaos said. This was too much. "Um…please…"

"Don't worry, dear Kaos," Fuura said. "You look absolutely adorable. Would you like something to evil to hold as well? That might make for an interesting contrast."

This broke Ruki out of her daze. She got up and stormed to the door.

"Everybody, leave!" she yelled. With that, she slammed the door closed.

"You probably attracted even more attention sending them off like that," Tsubasa said.

Ruki glared at Tsubasa briefly then collapsed on to the floor, leaning against her bed. Her face changed from angry to blank to distraught in the span of a few seconds. She buried her face in her hands and made some strange noises. Was she crying?

"What's wrong?" Koyume asked. "You two looked like you were having fun!"

"Yes, whatever you were doing, it must have been fairly interesting," Tsubasa said, setting down her bag. "I apologize for interrupting it."

Ruki didn't look up at either of them. Kaos sighed to herself and figured that everyone would know about her rabbit costume, pictures or not. That didn't bother as much as Ruki being upset though.

With some effort, Kaos managed to reach around behind herself and start on the zipper for the bunny costume. Koyume, noticing the trouble she was having, came over and helped her with it. Kaos felt a wave of relief when she pulled it off. Not only was it less embarrassing to just be back in her normal clothes, it was also much cooler.

"I…didn't expect you back so early," Kaos said to Tsubasa.

"I informed my parents that I had to tutor one of my peers, so they let me leave early," Tsubasa said. She shot a glance at Koyume. "Which is true, of course. You have a lot of work to do."

"But if it's Tsubasa helping me, I'm going to be so motivated!" Koyume said, clasping her hands together. "My supplementary exams are sure to be a snap!"

"S-Speaking of those," Kaos said. "I thought you'd still be at school, Koyume…"

"Well, when I found out Tsubasa was coming back, I told Nijino-sensei that I had something very important to take care of," Koyume said. "She asked me if it was manga-related. I told her it was, which is sort of true since we all draw manga. Anyway, she suddenly became less strict and let me leave early for the day, so long as I turn in my work tomorrow."

"I see," Tsubasa said. "You had better work hard on your assignments today, then." She pointed a finger at Koyume. "Just imagine if you have to spend all of summer break doing supplementary lessons. It would be like the hero and the heroine being separated for no good reason at all!"

Koyume gasped. "You're right! But even if the hero and the heroine are apart, their love won't fade, will it? It can still grow stronger, right? Right?!"

"It can," Tsubasa said. "But they need to be together sometimes too. Balance in all things, Koyume."

"You're right," Koyume said. "And to that end…the hero can help the heroine along through her trials, right?"

"Of course." Tsubasa pointed her finger up at the ceiling. "While fighting alone can strengthen one more, personal bonds grow the strongest when a struggle is faced alongside a true comrade!"

"And it's so important that the hero and the heroine strengthen their bond!" Koyume exclaimed.

"Exactly. I'm glad you understand that so well."

Koyume and Tsubasa carried on like this for a bit. Kaos was amused to watch it. Was it their way of flirting?

 _It's really sweet and nice to see…but they have no right to comment on others' relationships. They're just as off-the-wall as Ruki and me._

And that was okay, wasn't it? Kaos and Ruki had their own way of doing things, just as Koyume and Tsubasa had theirs. Ruki had pointed that out to her, and she saw it more clearly than ever now. Free of the rabbit costume, Kaos sat down next to Ruki and tried to comfort her.

"Ruki." Kaos wasn't sure how to continue. Ruki looked up at her. Tears ran down her face. Kaos gave her a cute smile. Ruki liked those, right?

"This is all so humiliating," Ruki cried. She buried her face back in her arms. "I can't ever leave this room again."

"It…it's okay, Ruki," Kaos said. "Y-You weren't the one wearing the costume anyway…"

"Kaos," Ruki said, lifting her head a little. "Please go wipe the marker off your face."

"R-Right."

"I'll help you, Kaos!" Koyume volunteered.

"Ah…thanks, Koyume."

"So, if it's okay to ask," Koyume said carefully when they were alone in the bathroom. "What were you and Ruki really doing?"

"Just…playing," Kaos said. "Remember when you and Ruki dressed me up before? It was kind of like that."

"Alright," Koyume said brightly. "Hold still." Koyume echoed the same words Ruki had said to Kaos earlier as she cleaned up Kaos's face with a damp handkerchief. Kaos's whiskers and black nose were soon gone.

When they returned to the dorm room, Kaos saw that Ruki was now standing and rubbing her forehead. Tsubasa was talking to her.

"Perhaps you two should lock the door the next time you're doing whatever it was you were doing," Tsubasa suggested.

"Tsu-chan, don't you start too," Ruki muttered.

"I'm not here to judge," Tsubasa said. "What you two do is your business. I'm simply offering some advice." She paused. "Though I have to admit, if someone told me that Ruki had a bunny girl in her room and in her bed, that scene isn't really what I would have imagined."

Ruki groaned and stared down at the floor. Kaos (who was kind of used to embarrassing herself and wasn't taking this quite so hard) decided it was time to step in and comfort her girlfriend better. She wrapped her arms around Ruki's waist and pressed her face to her back.

"Ruki has no reason to feel embarrassed," she said.

"Koyume," Tsubasa said. "Let's give them a brief moment, shall we?"

"Okey-dokey!" Koyume said merrily as she and Tsubasa left the room. "We'll be right back!"

"Kaos," Ruki said. "I'm really, deeply sorry. I got carried away, and I embarrassed both of us. Please forgive me. I won't ever make you do something like that again."

"There's nothing to forgive," Kaos said, hugging Ruki even tighter. "If dressing up like that made Ruki happy, then I'd happily do it some more."

Ruki sighed and didn't reply.

"Remember when I thought I had screwed up?" Kaos asked. "And you said that I really didn't? Well, I get the feeling you think you've screwed up. But you haven't. You just wanted to try something fun. And it felt a little silly, but I could see how much you liked it, and that's what's important, not what anyone else thinks."

"Oh, Kaos." Ruki turned around and hugged Kaos to her tightly.

A little too tightly, in fact.

"I can't breathe!" Kaos gasped. "You're crushing me!"

"Oh, sorry!" Ruki loosened her hold on Kaos. She blushed. "Sorry, I got a little carried away there. It's easy because of how small you are…"

Kaos leaned up and gently kissed Ruki on the lips. This was a little difficult – she had to stand on her toes to do it since Ruki wasn't leaning back down toward her – and the kiss didn't last as long as their previous one had, but when she pulled away, Ruki's face had gone from frowning and upset back to smiling and content.

Even if it wasn't exactly like a romance manga, Kaos decided that kissing was pretty nice too. Did Koyume and Tsubasa kiss? They probably did.

"Thank you, Kaos," Ruki said, sighing contentedly. "I feel better now. Really."

"Good," Kaos said, laying her head against Ruki's chest as Ruki lovingly stroked her braids.

"So, what do we say if any of the other girls in the dorm ask what we were doing?" Ruki wondered.

"Setting up a sketch for a manga scene, maybe?" Kaos suggested.

"Right," Ruki said, nodding. "Definitely setting up a sketch for a manga scene."

Kaos laughed. Would anyone even buy that story? Well, perhaps it didn't matter. She and Ruki had each other. Who cared what anyone else thought?

"But again," Kaos said. "I will put on whatever costume you want me to wear anytime…" It occurred to her that Ruki might request something a little sexier next time (and conversely, Kaos wouldn't have minded seeing Ruki wear something like that), but it was more likely Ruki would ask her to put on something cute again. And that was fine, really.

"That's sweet of you, Kaos," Ruki said. "But maybe we should lay off that for a while."

"Very well," Kaos said. "I was just hoping if I did, Ruki would wear her glasses more…"

"That I can absolutely do," Ruki said. "And if that's what you like, then I'm more than happy to put them after I made you wear…well, you know."

"It made you so pleased," Kaos said. "Ruki getting all gushy over me was…really cute."

There was a knock on the door. Ruki released Kaos and shrugged at her. She opened the door, and it turned out to be Tsubasa and Koyume returning.

"We figured it would be better to knock this time around!" Koyume said.

"And that hopefully you hadn't decided to dress Kaos up in something else," Tsubasa said. "Though if you were about to do that, then we can come back later."

Ruki frowned. "Very funny, Tsu-chan."

"Thank you. Now, if you're through moping, Koyume and I were thinking that the four of us could go out."

"That's a good idea," Kaos said. "There's a really nice café nearby that Ruki and I have been to a few times…they have good desserts that you'd probably like, Koyume…"

"Really?" Koyume's face lit up. "I'm game!"

"It's settled then," Tsubasa said. "Off we go."

"Wait!" Ruki said. "Should we be doing this?"

"If you're protesting, it's three to one," Tsubasa said. "You're outvoted, Ruki."

"No, no," Ruki said. "I mean, don't you and Kaos have manga work to do? And doesn't Koyume have schoolwork to do?"

"I need to recharge first," Tsubasa said. "You know how much spending time with my family drains me."

"I need to recharge too!" Koyume said. "I haven't as much time with Tsubasa as I'd like…nor have I had anything sweet today since lunch…how am I supposed to concentrate on homework?"

"It would be nice to eat something cold," Kaos said. "It was warm in that costume. Besides, I'm so far ahead in my manuscript, that I can take a little time away from it to go out…"

"Am I the only level-headed person in this bunch?" Ruki asked.

"Says the one who dressed her girlfriend up as a rabbit," Tsubasa said dryly.

"Maybe Kaos will wear it out for you!" Koyume suggested.

Kaos shook her head. "No. It's too hot to wear that outside."

Ruki groaned and covered her face again. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"I think Ruki needs some time away from the dorm as well," Kaos said, reaching up and gently pulling Ruki's hands down. "You'll feel much better after going out with us. There's nothing that can't be fixed with the four of us being together."

"You're right," Ruki conceded. "Let's go."

The four of them ended up spending a much longer time at the café than anticipated. When they left, it had gotten dark out. The night air was warm, but clear. Kaos could see a splash of stars across the sky. It was as though they had been perfectly set up. Just like everything felt like it had been perfectly set up for her over the past few months. Would that continue? Who knew? But Kaos knew she could continue to persevere through anything so long as she was with Koyume, Tsubasa, and Ruki.

 ** _(Author's note: Ruki dressing up Kaos in the rabbit costume was one of the first scenes I came up with for this story. I knew it had to be saved for last; I couldn't think of anything else that felt funnier to me. Anyway, this was my first attempt at a multi-chapter Comic Girls story. I hope you enjoyed it. I know I sure had a lot of fun writing it. I really appreciate the comments and feedback that I've gotten. Thank you for reading along, and maybe the stars align in your favor too.)_**


End file.
